The Printing Shop
Somm - Printing Shop
Henry Somm (1844-1907), The Printing Shop, etching and drypoint, c. 1880, not signed [signed in plate], in good condition, trimmed on the plate mark, 1 7/8 x 3 1/8 inches.
Provenance: Initials RWX verso, in pencil (not in Lugt)
A fine impression of this tiny but figure-filled image.
In this print shop a woman appears to be spreading acid over a plate in a pan; tiny figures abound including a devilish character looking at prints lower left, a tiny figure presiding over the acid bath, and three other figures in a cloud just above a torrent of prints falling earthward.
Henry Somm, whose original name was Francois-Clement Sommier, was a well-known impressionist illustrator and artist, a friend of Buhot, and of course much influenced by Japonisme.
Detail
Detail