Born in Lyon, Balthazar Jean Baron (1788-1869) was a mostly self-taught French draftsman, aquafortist engraver, and lithographer. While visiting Paris, Balthazar met the artist Eugène Bléry, who recommended that he study the technique of the Lyon engraver Jean-Jacques de Boissieu, as one who drew "directly from nature."
From 1816 to 1869, Baron created engravings based on his own drawings, depicting mainly country landscapes or views inspired by his region, as well as views of Versailles, Senlis, and Francheville, all while managing a silk factory and serving as a magistrate attached to the Lyon Commercial Court. He is one of three illustrators in the collection, "Les environs de Paris, paysage, histoire, monuments, mœurs, chroniques et traditions," coordinated by Charles Nodier and Louis Lurine, published by Boizard and G. Kugelmann (Paris, 1844).
The artist was rediscovered in the late 1990s by Colette and Étienne Bidon, who made a major donation to the city of Lyon and organized several exhibitions.
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Etching on thin wove paper, affixed in its four corners on a sheet of fibrous brown paper. Reference: not identified in BN-IFF, which mentions only...
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