Félix-Hilaire Buhot
France, 1847 - 1898

Félix Buhot - Gravure Originale / Original Etching - La Place Bréda.
Infos par e-mail roussard@noos.fr Merci.

Buhot was born in Normandy where he received his early education. He was a clever student and in 1865 despite being an impoverished orphan brought up by his godfather he moved to Paris to study literature. After a year however, he started his art training at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts. He was given the opportunity to design music score covers which led to his interest in print making and also gave him some financial security. His earliest etchings date from 1873 and he went on to become one of the most accomplished and acclaimed 'peintres-graveurs' (painter-etchers). He was always trying to improve his techniques and the effects of his prints and he reworked his plates through numerous states to achieve satisfaction from each of his etchings. In 1879 he made a prolonged visit to London where he met with enormous success. Buhot's etchings are prized amongst collectors for their brilliance in depicting shadow and light. They are mostly town-scapes with astounding detail. He devised the style of making 'marges symphoniques' (symphonic borders) for many of his etchings, sometimes using separate plates, occasionally incorporating the marginal decorations into the main plate. Editions exist of many of the etchings printed without the decorative borders.