La Fête Nationale du 30 juin au Boulevard Clichy

Description

Both the Universal Exposition of 1878 and the holiday that Buhot's print commemorates were organized to mark the recovery of Paris after the Franco-Prussian War and the Commune. Marginal vignettes that present varied glimpses of Parisians celebrating amplify Buhot's festive Montmartre street scene.To supplement line in this print, Buhot used aquatint to create areas of tone. In this technique a powdered rosin is dusted on a copper or zinc plate, which is heated so that the powder fuses to the plate. When the plate is put into an acid bath, the dust particles protect the tiny areas beneath them, while the surrounding areas are bitten. When the plate is inked and wiped, ink remains in the bitten areas, and a fine, granular texture is produced when the plate is printed. Differing tones are produced by stopping out, or protecting with a layer of varnish, some portions of the plate and biting other parts further.