Charles-François Daubigny (1817-1878) - Lot 85

Charles-François Daubigny (1817-1878) Voyage en bateau. Etching by Daubigny. 1862. Etching and roulette. Each [320 x 445]. Delteil 99 to 115. Complete suite of 15 proofs including a title on chine appliqué on strong white vellum, the title bearing the pencil lettering "a mon ami Mathon / en souvenir de son voyage à bord", signed. Scattered light foxing (especially to title) and a few short tears to edges. Stamp of É. Mathon (Lugt not described) at center head of title on recto and at center head on verso of each plate. Attached: double sheet of text, Foreword by Frédéric Henriet. The cover of the suite is missing. Provenance: Michel Romand (1929-2013), great-grandson of Edmond Sagot (1857-1917).Émile Mathon (1842-1899) was a friend and pupil of Daubigny. What follows is an account of a trip made by the artist on the Seine River in the company of a mousse in his botin, summarily furnished and filled with the painter's equipment: canvases, brushes, colors, etc.: "It was on a cold November morning in 1857 that the Botin first ventured through the mists of the Seine, baptized at the outset by the jeers of the laundresses [...]. [...] Every year, on the return of the flowering season, Daubigny untied his boat's mooring rope and sailed joyfully to Rolleboise or Auvers, where he was drawn by irresistible attractions. [...] These expeditions are never, it must be admitted, without burlesque incidents and a few dives [...] [...] sometimes a storm hits the deck of the frail skiff; the crew capsizes; brushes, studies and palette go adrift..." (F. Henriet, Avant-Prince). (F. Henriet, Foreword).