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Aquatint: a painterly intaglio technique

While printmakers have always wanted to present some shading or grayscale in their work, until the discovery of aquatint in the 17th century, doing so was technically very challenging.  And with a few notable exceptions, such as in the etchings of Francisco Goya, aquatint, this most painterly of intaglio techniques, remained unpracticed by most printmakers.  Aquatint started to gain popularity in the latter part of the 19th century, likely as etching was being rediscovered by Impressionists.  These artists were often eager to replicate in their prints the atmospheric qualities found in their paintings.  Aquatint, with its granular texture, lends itself to effects that offer an endless range of shading, both in black and white and in color.  Because it was practiced so masterfully by artists of the Modern Era, we here at Armstrong Fine Art are true “suckers” for a finely crafted aquatint.  Here are a few we have, or have had in the past.

Bernard Boutet de Monvel - La Charrette - horse drawn carriage - etching aquatint Sold
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La Charrette

BOUTET DE MONVEL, Bernard

Color etching and aquatint. Signed and numbered "48/100" in pencil.

Bernard Boutet de Monvel - Le Chaland - canal barge - Addade 46 - Aquatint and soft-ground etching Sold
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The Barge

BOUTET DE MONVEL, Bernard

La Chaland (original French title) Aquatint and soft-ground etching. Also titled "La Peniche". Printed in color on laid paper. Refs: Addade pg. 4...

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Yannick Ballif - Enez Bihan - Petite Ile - Small Island - Archipel Ebiens Hebiens - Saint-Jacut-de-la-Mer - Bretagne - Cotes-d'Armor
$400

Enez Bihan

BALLIF, Yannick

Color aquatint, spitbite (?) and drypoint on wove paper.Printed to the sheet edge, as usual.Edition of 70.Published by Galerie Antarès, Paris, with...

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Yannick Ballif - Luz do Dia - Daylight - embossed print - color aquatint - drypoint - room with a view - window - detail
$400

Daylight

BALLIF, Yannick

Luz Do Dia (original Portugese title) Embossed color aquatint and drypoint on wove paper.Printed to the sheet edge, as usual.Edition of 70.Publishe...

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Yannick Ballif - Quatre Iles - Four Islands - orange teal vegetation - leaves
$500

Four Islands

BALLIF, Yannick

Quatre Iles (original French title)Embossed color aquatint and linear scuffing on wove paper.Printed to the sheet edge, as usual.Trial proof, aside...

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Jean-Francois Raffaelli - Le Grand Prix de Paris - detail
$1,400

The Paris Grand Prix

RAFFAELLI, Jean-Francois

Le Grand-Prix de Paris (original French title) Color etching, aquatint, and drypoint printed on simili-japon paper, 1906.Ref: Delteil 74.Edition of...

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