L'Abside de Notre Dame. by MÉRYON, Charles [1821-1868]

1854. Schneiderman's 4th state (of 9), Delteil-Wright's 4th state (of 8). This state was printed and published by Méryon himself, and has his name and the date and address in cursive script in the plate at bottom. Méryon is generally regarded as the most important etcher of nineteenth century France and his L'Abside de Notre Dame is considered to be his master work. It is one of a series of 22 etchings on Paris which he executed between 1850 and 1854. These are described as "the greatest embodiments of his greatest conceptions" by Frederick Wedmore (Encycl. Britannica): "The art of Méryon is completely misconceived when his etchings are spoken of as views of Paris. They are often "views," but they are so just so far as is compatible with their being likewise the visions of a poet and the compositions of an artist. It was an epic of Paris that Méryon was determined to make, coloured strongly by his personal sentiment... L'Abside de Notre Dame...is commonly held to be Méryon's masterpiece. Light and shade play wonderfully over the great fabric of the church, seen over the spaces of the river. As a draughtsman of architecture, Méryon was complete; his sympathy with its various styles was broad, and his work on its various styles unbiased and of equal perfection...". Méryon's later years were plagued by mental illness and he died of self-inflicted starvation in 1868. Schneiderman 45. Delteil-Wright 38. etching. 163 x 298 mm. signed, dated & inscribed in plate. printed in brown ink on cream laid paper. A fine delicate impression with wide margins (minor nicks & paper losses at edges, flattened fold at bottom edge, very slight pale foxing mainly visible in margins)