A Landing in England (Un Débarquement en Angleterre)

Born in Normandy, Félix-Hilaire Buhot was a young man when he moved to Paris for his art training, and he soon became one of the most celebrated printmakers of his time, known especially for his experimental techniques and painterly approach. Buhot took great care with the variables of the printing process, using papers of different ages and textures, and applying a range of printmaking and inking techniques to produce subtle tonal gradations. He would also distinguish between different states of a print, and even between impressions of the same state, marking different prints with his pencil signature or red monogrammed owl stamp to indicate that the impression was pulled in his presence. The uniqueness of each sheet not only solidified Buhot’s originality as a printmaker, but also made him immensely popular with collectors, including in Britain, which he visited multiple times, and in the United States, where the print dealer Frederick Keppel helped to make his work more widely known.  His productivity declined sharply after 1890, owing to severe depression.