Sidesaddle Rider in a Clearing

Cavalière en Amazone dans une Clairière (descriptive French title) Etching and soft-ground etching on wove paper. Reference: not in Hédiard or BN-IFF. Trial proof; likely never editioned.  Brown was known mostly as a painter and lithographer.  He is especially credited for giving early fine arts color lithography a voice.  He is said to have etched about 60 plates, most of which were printed at Auguste Delâtre’s shop. Signed, dedicated “à l’ami Delatre” and dated “12 novembre 1878” in red crayon.  Signed etchings of any kind by the artist are extremely scarce.  This impression is magnificent, with a moody early morning dawn plate-tone, enhancing the artist’s use of the long soft-ground shadow cast on the ground by the horse and rider.  This etching reminds us of the best of prints by Edgar Degas, who was a friend of Brown’s, as well as Félix Bracquemond, Henri Guérard or Henri Lerolle.  A magnificent Impressionist etching; with a capital “I”. The size indicated is for the image.  The plate is substantially larger than the image. Plate: 12 ½ x 9 ⅜ inches.