The Notre-Dame Pump (small plate) 1854

Charles Meryon created "The Notre-Dame Pump (small plate)" using etching, a medium that allowed for intricate detail and nuanced expression. Meryon worked during a period of significant urban transformation in Paris, and this print encapsulates his complex relationship with the changing city. On the surface, this print seems to be about the demolition of a water pump near the Notre-Dame cathedral, but it is also a commentary on broader societal shifts. The pump, personified in the French text, laments its obsolescence. The print mourns the loss of the old ways of life in the face of modernization. Meryon himself struggled with mental health issues and felt alienated by the rapid changes around him. His personal feelings of displacement are etched into this work. The artist does not shy away from expressing an emotional connection to the subject matter. The elegiac tone invites us to reflect on the cost of progress and consider who is left behind in the wake of modernization.