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The Vampire

1853
Not on view
Meryon was plagued by mental illness and spent the last years of his brief life in an asylum. The dark, gothic tenor that characterizes many of his prints has been interpreted as symptomatic of his tumultuous life. This print, taken from his album Eaux-fortes sur Paris, shows a grotesque gargoyle from Notre-Dame Cathedral against an aerial view of the expanding French capital. Surrounded by a flock of darkly colored birds, the sculpture takes on a menacing, monstrous appearance, especially as it dominates the right half of the composition. Meryon added a verse of his own creation to this later state of the print, describing the figure as an "insatiable vampire, eternal lust" who "covets its food in the great city." The artist continued to revise the plate over the course of a decade, producing a total of ten states of the etching before his untimely death in 1868.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: The Vampire
  • Series/Portfolio: Etchings of Paris (Eaux-Fortes sur Paris)
  • Artist: Charles Meryon (French, 1821–1868)
  • Date: 1853
  • Medium: Etching in brown ink on green laid paper; fifth state of ten
  • Dimensions: Plate: 6 5/8 x 5 1/16 in. (16.9 x 12.8 cm)
    Sheet: 10 1/2 x 7 7/8 in. (26.7 x 20 cm)
  • Classification: Prints
  • Credit Line: H.O. Havemeyer Collection, Bequest of Mrs. H.O. Havemeyer, 1929
  • Object Number: 29.107.108
  • Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

More Artwork

More Artwork
The Mortuary, Paris (La Morgue), Charles Meryon French, Etching and drypoint, third state of seven
The Mortuary, Paris (La Morgue)
Charles Meryon
1854
Ceramic Horn, Glazed pottery, French
Ceramic Horn
French
late 18th or early 19th century
Fishing Boat, James McNeill Whistler American, Etching and drypoint, printed in dark brown ink on ivory laid paper; fourth state of six (Glasgow)
Fishing Boat
James McNeill Whistler
1879–80
Native Barns and Huts at Akaroa, Banks Peninsula, 1845, from "The Voyage to New Zealand (1842–46)", Charles Meryon French, Etching
Native Barns and Huts at Akaroa, Banks Peninsula, 1845, from "The Voyage to New Zealand (1842–46)"
Charles Meryon
1860
Osage Warrior, Charles Balthazar Julien Févret de Saint-Mémin French, Watercolor and graphite on off-white wove paper, American
Osage Warrior
Charles Balthazar Julien Févret de Saint-Mémin
1805–7

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