The barn

Details

Bartsch 23; Hollstein und Godefroy 23 V (von X).

Descrizione

Outstanding, concise and effective early impression with traces of the granite steel over the woman’s back and the needlework on the barrel to widen the hoops still visible. With slightly toned margins and the rough, wide platemark, the border still fine and the corners of the plate pointed. A conceivably beautiful and perfect example of Ostade’s most artistically significant Engraving, printed in gradations ranging from the deep black of the shadows to the rich scale of the mid-tones and the over-brightness of the sunlight outside. In its incipient decay, the barn conveys an image of transience to the viewer. With a margin of up to 10 mm around the edge of the plate. – Slightly darkened and with small stains. Two vertical creases on verso. A 2 mm tear in the centre of the lower edge. The lower left corner with traces of creasing, otherwise in good condition.
Categorised as “Très rare” by Godefroy.