[Alphonse LAFITTE (ROBBE)] Untitled marine night scene

Description

Nocturnal marine scene with fishing boats near the coast. A man is at work in a small rowed boat in the foreground. Curiously for Lafitte, who often worked with vibrant colours in his aquatints, this muted night scene in mostly tones of grey has only small splashes of red indicating lights in the background.

Aquatint on wove paper.
Sheet size: 34,5 x 54,1 cm. Image size: 30,6 x 48,9 cm.

Signed in pencil below the image. Printed by the Cercle de la Libraire (see the blindstamped collection mark Cercle Libraire Estampes RXH in the lower left margin, cf. Lugt 438). Lugt claims the blindstamp is always in the lower left corner for proofs of the 1st state, and in the lower right for other states. A small text in the top margin reads: “Edité par Georges Petit […] Octobre 1912”.

Made by ‘Alphonse Lafitte’ after own design. Alphonse Lafitte (1872-1936) was one of two pseudonyms used by Manuel Robbe during the 1920’s. The works made as Lafitte are very different from the portraits of ladies he made as Manuel Robbe. He used ‘Lafitte’ mainly for landscapes and marine scenes. He is credited for inventing the sugar aquatint technique, with which he managed to attain a watercolour-like effect that resembled Impressionist painting.

Condition: Very good, given age. Faint ghosting around the image, from previous mat opening or framing. General age-related toning and/or occasional minor defects from handling. Please study scan carefully.

PCO-B3-13