Theodore Roussel (1847-1926), Study From the Nude of a Girl Lying Down, 1890,  drypoint with plate tone, signed with the tab and inscribed “imp” [also signed in the plate upper left]. Reference: Hausberg 40, only state, from the total printing of about 20  impressions. In good condition, trimmed as usual by the artist on the plate mark with the tab left for the signature, 2 11/16 x 3 7/16 inches.

A fine impression, with a heavy veil of plate tone.

Hausberg notes that the model was “presumably Hetty Pettigrew”, who was Roussel’s model from the early 1880′s until the second decade of the 1900′s. Hetty Pettigrew was born Harriet Selina Pettigrew in 1867, one of 12 children, the eldest of three daughters who modeled for London artists. Hetty also modeled for Whistler for one oil painting and a number of pastels. Hetty served as a studio assistant for Roussel, and may have been his art student as well; Roussel and Pettigrew had a personal relationship including a child named Iris, the subject of a Roussel portrait study painted in the 1880′s.

Theodore Roussel (1847-1926), Penelope, A Doorway, Chelsea; etching, 1888-89, signed and inscribed “imp” in pencil in the tab [also signed in the plate upper left]. Reference: Hausberg 23, only state, from the edition of about 30. In very good condition, trimmed by the artist on the platemark all around except for the tab. Printed in black ink on cream laid paper, 4 1/4 x 2 11/16 inches. Plate later cancelled.

A fine impression with a light veil of plate tone.

The title refers to Ulysses’ wife Penelope, who passed the time weaving while waiting for her husband to return.

The composition is remindful of the many Whistler compositions in which figures are placed in doorways, alleyways, or otherwise framed; Roussel was of course a Whistler accolyte, and arguably his most talented follower; he met Whistler at about the time he created this etching.

Detail

Theodore Casimir Roussel (1847-1926), Chelsea Embankment, June, 5 PM, 1889, etching on old laid paper, signed in pencil on the tab [and also signed in the plate], h: 6 x w: 4 in / h: 15.2 x w: 10.2 cm. Reference: Hausberg 30. In very good condition, trimmed on or just outside of the platemark by the artist except for the signed tab. Archival mounting with window mat.

A fine impression.

This Thames embankment scene was done just after Roussel’s debut as a printmaker at the firm of Dowdeswell’s in the Spring of 1888. This firm was also involved in the marketing of Whistler’s prints; Roussel was of course a Whistler student and acolyte, as evidenced by his approach toward printmaking as well as the reverential trimming of the impression and use of the signature tab.

Roussel was born in Brittany, studied in Paris, but settled in Britain. A painter, he began printmaking at about the age of 40. Beyond his fame as one of the most talented of the Whistlerians, he also gained notoriety for inventing a series of printmaking techniques and approaches, including the invention of an inking method known as the “Roussel medium”, several color etchings, and occasional etching of frames and mounts. Chelsea Embankments was done just before he developed the formula for the Roussel medium, and he used this plate in some experiments with the medium. The copper plate, and a preparatory drawings for the print are now at the Stanford University Museum of Art.

Theodore Roussel (1847-1926), The Sleeping Model or The Sleeper, etching and drypoint with additional pencil coloring, signed on the tab and inscribed “imp”, also inscribed “to Hetty” and initialed verso. Reference: Hausberg 145, an undescribed third state (of 5), colored by the artist in pencil, in very good condition, on antique laid paper trimmed to the plate mark by the artist with the tab left for the signature, 5 1/8 x 7 inches, archival mounting.

A fine impression of a proof before the addition of lines on the couch and background, shading near the model’s fingers, and the addition of aquatint for color printing. In this proof the artist has added colors in pencil; in the last state a small number of impressions (5) were printed in colors.

This proof impression was given to the model, Hetty Pettigrew, by Roussel. Ms Pettigrew (1867-1953), a model for Whistler as well as Roussel, was also Roussel’s student, and had, according to Hausberg, a personal relationship with Roussel as well as a professional one. Both Roussel and Whistler made a number of prints, and Whistler a few pastels, of Ms. Pettigrew on the couch depicted in this etching.

Theodore Roussel (1847-1926), Low Tide Fowey (First Plate), etching, 1911, signed on the tab and inscribed imp (Latin for impressit)[also signed in the plate lower left]; Reference: Hausberg 100, third state (of 3). In excellent condition (remains of prior hinging verso), trimmed by the artist on the platemark with a tab left for the signature and annotation, on a laid paper, 3 1/2 x 5 inches, archival matting.

A fine delicately printed impression of this rare print. Roussel printed only 15 in this state, 8 in the second state and 1 in the first.

Apparently this delicate plate wore out quickly, so Roussel made another version (Hausberg 101) which was then steel-faced (although no edition was made of this version).

Roussel was an admirer, and one of the more talented students of Whistler, and, like Whistler, he printed his etchings personally, then trimmed them at the plate mark and left his signature on a tab.

The subject dates from Roussel’s visit to Fowey, Cornwall during the summer of 1911.

Theodore Roussel (1847-1926), The Street, Chelsea Embankment, etching, 1888-9, signed in pencil on the tab and annotated “imp” [also signed lower left in the plate]. Reference: Hausberg 26, only state, about 40 impressions printed.  In good condition (tiny repaired tear upper margin, trimmed by the artist at the platemark leaving a tab for the signature), 5 7/8 x 8 1/4 inches.  Printed in brownish/black ink on an old laid paper, archival mounting.

A fine atmospheric impression, printed by the artist with an overall veil of plate tone.

Roussel was a student and admirer of Whistler, and, like Whistler, he printed his etchings personally, then trimmed them at the plate mark and left his signature on a tab. This print is illustrated in Lochnan’s The Etchings of Whistler, as an example of Roussel’s work (Lochnan notes that Roussel was so full of respect for the master that he always went bareheaded in his presence). As it developed, Roussel was surely one of the most outstanding of Whistler’s accolytes.

This commercial section of Cheyne Walk was destroyed in 1889, when it was razed in connection with the building of Battersea Bridge. Meg Hausberg, in her superb catalogue raisonne of Roussel’s prints, was able to find the names of each of the shops; the sign board for James Clarke, Dining Rooms; and Mrs. Sarah Weller, Furniture Dealer are both visible in the etching, as is the large News of the World sign above the shop at the far left.

Theodore Roussel (1847-1926), The Sign of the White Horse, Parson’s Green, etching, 1906, signed in pencil on the tab and inscribed “imp.” [also signed in the plate lower right] Reference: Hausberg 68, 14th state (of 14), from the total printing of about 60 impressions, about 30 in this state. In very good condition, on a laid paper, trimmed by the artist on the platemark with the tab, 4 7/8 x 3 1/4 inches, archival mounting.

A fine impression with exquisite detailing, printed in black ink with strong plate tone.

Roussel apparently perfected this plate through a series of 14 states, making small changes each time and generally printing two or three proofs before arriving at this definitive last state, in which he added diagonal shading to the right awning, and his signature to the plate.  In accord with the custom of his mentor James Whistler he trimmed the print on the platemark except for the small tab at the bottom where he signed his name and wrote the letters imp, standing for the Latin impressit (indicating that he printed the impression personally).

Meg Hausberg, who wrote the catalogue raisonne for Roussel (and painstakingly documented each of the 14 states of The Sign!) wrote this note on The Sign: “The pub The White Horse was less than one hundred yards from Roussel’s home, Belfield House, on Parson’s Green in Fulham. Like Belfield House, which is now part of Lady Margaret School, the pub is still standing today. This is one of three etchings Roussel made depicting the local scene at Parson’s Green. In them, he exhibited an interest in the everyday life of the neighborhood similar to that portrayed in his earlier etchings of Chelsea Embankment and its environs.”