La fin de Montmartre 1905

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aquatint, print, etching

aquatint

photo of handprinted image

water colours

ink painting

print

etching

possibly oil pastel

fluid art

ink drawing experimentation

underpainting

france

watercolour bleed

watercolour illustration

watercolor

Dimensions 6 3/8 x 9 in. (16.19 x 22.86 cm) (plate)9 1/4 x 11 7/8 in. (23.5 x 30.16 cm) (sheet)

Louis Morin made this etching, La fin de Montmartre, with ink on paper. Just imagine Morin, alone in his studio wrestling with the plate, trying to capture the atmosphere of Montmartre. He's got the windmill in the foreground, almost like a dark sentinel, and then the city lights twinkling in the distance like a promise. The dark shadows contrast with the bright sky, and make me think he was maybe feeling a sense of melancholy. It's like he's saying goodbye to something. The texture of the ink itself becomes part of the story. I can almost feel him scraping away at the plate, revealing the image bit by bit. All these artists, etching away, it connects them. They're all trying to say something, even if they don't quite know what it is. It's a conversation across time, a community of seekers.

Comments

minneapolisinstituteofart over 1 year ago

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Author, illustrator, and painter Louis Morin was born and pursued his career in Paris. Remembered in large part for his views of Montmartre, he also created silhouette figures for the "theatre d'ombres" (shadow plays) staged at the famous Chat Noir nightclub in that district. He edited and illustrated the short-lived journal "La Revue des Quat'Saisons" (1900-01) and contributed to other humor magazines, including "La Caricature" and "L'Assiete au Beurre." He founded the Salon des Humoristes, where he also exhibited his work. The present work is a view of a windmill and viewing platform atop Montmartre, then on the outskirts of Paris. More specifically, it is probably one of the two mills at the Moulin de la Gallette, a popular gathering place—perhaps most famously shown in Renoir's 1876 painting in the Musée d'Orsay. The observation deck seen to the left of the mill was also depicted by Vincent van Gogh in a painting of 1886 in the Art Institute of Chicago.