FILTER RESULTS × Close
Skip to Content
☰ Open Filter >>

Le Ministere de la Marine

Showing 1 of 1

Print this page
Image of Le Ministere de la Marine

Bookmark and Share

Bookmark: http://triarte.brynmawr.edu/objects-1/info/166169



Charles Meryon
 French (1821 - 1868) Primary



Le Ministere de la Marine

1865
Etching

Plate
6.5 x 5.625 in. (16.51 x 14.288 cm)

Bryn Mawr College
Accession Number: X.427
Other Number(s): Deanery.224 (Deanery Number)
Acquisition Date: 1935
Geography: Europe, France
Classification: Fine and Visual Arts; Prints; Etchings
Culture/Nationality: French
Collection: Deanery Collection
Description: Charles Meryon (1821-1868) was born in Paris, the son of a travelling English physician and a dancer at a Parisian opera house. After spending a few years in the French navy, he returned to Paris and began painting lessons. Meryon was born color-blind, however, a condition which disrupted his painting career and led him to study etching at the studio of Alexandre Bléry.

Meryon also suffered from mental illness throughout his life. His familiarity with poverty and melancholy shaped his artistic vision, and over the course of four years (1850-1854) he produced a series of twenty-two haunting and imaginative views of the streets, buildings, and bridges of Paris called "Eaux-fortes sur Paris."

This etching was produced approximately a decade after his series "Eaux-fortes sur Paris" and is one of his final works depicting the city. It shows the Place de la Concorde, with the French Naval Ministry under attack from fantastic flying creatures. The scene has been interpreted as the product of lingering resentment Meryon experienced for the Minister of the Marine – a result of an earlier offense during his naval career, in conjunction with the artist’s increasing mental instability towards the end of his life. The print hung in the Blue Room of the Deanery along with other prints by Meryon and etchings of the American artist, James McNeill Whistler.

Keywords Click a term to view the records with the same keyword
This object has the following keywords:
architecture, etchings*
  • architecture
  • etchings - Prints made from an etched printing plate, which is a metal plate on which a design is made by coating the plate with an acid-resistant substance, creating a design in the coating, and then exposing the plate to acid, which etches the plate where the metal is exposed. For designs incised directly into a copper plate using a burin or graver, use "engravings (prints)."

Additional Images Click an image to view a larger version
Additional Image
Additional Image

Exhibition List
This object was included in the following exhibitions:

Dimensions
  • Plate Dimensions: 6.5 x 5.625 in. (16.51 x 14.288 cm)

Bibliography List
The following Bibliography exist for this object:

If you would like to cite this object in a Wikipedia article please use the following template:

<ref name=BMC>cite web |url=http://triarte.brynmawr.edu/objects-1/info/166169 |title=Le Ministere de la Marine |author=Bryn Mawr College Library Special Collections |accessdate=4/18/2024 |publisher=Bryn Mawr College</ref>

Showing 1 of 1

Your current search criteria is: Object is "Le Ministere de la Marine".

View current selection of records as:
CDWA Lite XML LIDO XML VRA Core 4 MODS XML Objects JSON