A TRAVERS LES ATELIERS - Fichtre!.... Epatant!..... Sapristi!.... Superbe!.... ça parle!...

Trustman, Benjamin A., Trustman, Julia M. · 1862

Some men are talking about a painting in an art studio. They are enamored by it saying that it is magnificent. This print was published in 1862; a similar having been done as a wood engraving (B 393) already in 1841. A similar watercolor was drawn by Daumier between 1863-1865 (Maison D 379), an can be seen at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. In our print, a group of artists and art lovers are studying a painting, which is not visible to us. It could be a landscape, similar to the one standing in front of the easel on the ground. The person closest to the painting could be Daumier himself, studying it with a smile, while the landscapist Jules DUPRÉ spreads his arms widely in amazement. The person sitting could be COURBET, observing the painting or the reaction of his colleagues with a smile. Could it be that he was the author of the painting? The remaining three persons seem to be rather shocked about what they see. In 1937, the lithographic stone of this print was shown in an exhibition of the Pennsylvania Museum of Art in Philadelphia. It was lent out by the Weyhe Gallery in New York (see page 53 of the exhibition catalog). LE MONDE ILLUSTRÉ. Daumier ceased working for the Charivari in February 1860. At this period he also worked for Le Monde Illustré, supplying wood engravings for this weekly magazine. Until 1869 he produced 25 prints for this paper. At the same time he worked for LE BOULEVARD, where this print was published. LE BOULEVARD and SOUVENIRS D'ARTISTES. This weekly illustrated journal was established by the artist, journalist, and photographer Etienne Carjat. The editors were Aubert and Delauney while Carjat acted as editor-in-chief. The first number appeared on January 5, 1862 (a first so-called specimen edition came out on December 1, 1861, apart from the total of 76 numbers), and the last one on June 14, 1863. There also exists an album : "Collection des Charges de Portraits, scènes comiques sur les principaux personnages de notre temps". The publication can be considered a very rare and very important mirror for the time of the second Empire with its literary, critical, anecdotal and illustrated contributions. Banville, Baudelaire, Carjat, Champfleury, Alphonse Daudet, Victor Hugo and many more were literary contributors. The 118 illustrations of LE BOULEVARD were by Carjat, Doré, Daumier and others. Daumier did 11 illustrations for this paper: DR 3243-3252, 3254. All of them can be considered exceptional lithographs in their quality and expression. DR 3243 and 3246 carry the title LE BOULEVARD. All the others don’t show this title. The information conc. DR3246 originates from the 1904 Hazard work catalogue. We have yet to see a print to be able to confirm this. In 2004 a complete bound set of the Boulevard was offered in New York for 12'500 $. In 2001 a complete bound version was sold in a French auction house for 10'000 French Francs.. For each of the lithographic stones which Daumier delivered to Carjat for publication in the BOULEVARD, he received the amount of 50 Francs. All these scenes were considered outstanding pieces of art and were immediately reprinted with a wide margin on heavy white paper in the album SOUVENIRS D’ARTISTES. The Album included also DR 3253 (not part of the BOULEVARD edition). Some rare impressions on “Chine appliqué” were set aside for selected collectors. DR 3243 and 3246 carry the title Le Boulevard, the other prints don't.