Lantern dedicated to Arsène Alexandre
Henri Guérard French
Not on view
During the 1870s, the innovative printmaker Henri Guérard assembled a remarkable collection of antique and disused lanterns numbering in the hundreds. He made individual, portrait-like drawings of each lantern with plans to publish a portfolio of etchings. Although the project remained incomplete, this composition appeared in the journal "Paris à l’eau-forte" in January 1875. The artist is quoted describing the rationale for his collection: "Do you believe that one can only collect porcelain and precious bibelots? … Is history not written in lanterns as much as it is in plates? This collection is a whole world for me; each lantern reminds me of an epoch or a type." Later impressions of this print are dedicated to the art critic Arsène Alexandre.
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