The enchanted Paris of Eug�ne V�der
I first came across the work of the etcher Eug�ne V�der in issue 17 of the art revue Byblis (Spring 1926), which published his etching La rue Saint-Denis. I thought it a lovely piece of work, and was intrigued to find out more about its creator - especially as my copy was hand-signed by the artist. I think V�der probably signed every copy of this print. Usually in Byblis there were 105 hand-signed and 500 unsigned impressions, but in this case there seem to have been 105 in colour and 500 in black-and-white, all signed.
Byblis was published by the art publisher Albert Moranc�. Moranc� was evidently equally struck by V�der's work, because the Winter 1926 issue of Byblis carries a full-page advertisement for a work to appear the following June from �ditions Albert Moranc�: Paris: 50 Eaux-Fortes originales en couleurs d'Eug�ne V�der, r�unies en un portefeuille d'amateur. There were to be 100 copies on Japon imp�rial at a subscriber's price of 800 francs, 400 copies on v�lin de Rives at a subscription price of 400 francs, and 25 hors commerce copies, 5 on Japon and 20 on Rives. On publication the prices were to rise to 1000 and 500 francs. I believe that 1000 francs then would be about 500 euros today.
I have managed to find a copy of this exceptionally rare work. It is one of the 20 hors commerce copies on B.F.K. Rives. It consists simply of 50 loose etchings with a title page and a contents page, in a paper cover. Remarkably, it still looks in brand-new, perfect condition, despite being now around 85 years old, and having been posted from France to the USA and back to England over the course of that time. It appears that it remained in Albert Moranc�'s personal possession until 1949, when he presented it to a young American friend, William Sutton. Sutton in turn sent it home as a Christmas gift to his family, with an excited letter in which he writes, "These 50 etchings in water color are priceless now because the artist is dead and this is the last collection (and the best) of his work. The editor, Monsieur Moranc�, told me that every one is original and signed by the artist. Each etching expresses the quaintness found in every quarter of Paris. I have been to several of the places pictured and they are exactly like that."
In fact the etchings are signed in the plate, not hand-signed. Each one was printed by Eug�ne V�der himself on his own hand press - an incredible labour to achieve a total of 26,250 perfect prints, each painstakingly colour-registered. No wonder he didn't feel like signing them too!
It has been quite hard to find out all that much about Eug�ne V�der. Every website which lists or mentions him has his date of death wrong, repeating a rare mistake in the art reference bible, B�n�zit. This has him living to be 100, and dying in 1976. As we know from William Sutton's letter, written on November 22, 1949, V�der was already dead by then. In fact he died in 1936.
Perhaps not surprisingly, the only writing of any substance I have found about V�der is in Byblis, accompanying his etching of La rue Saint-Denis. It is an essay by Robert Vernand, entitled "Eug�ne Veder, Parisien" (Burnand never gives V�der the acute accent). He writes: Tous les jours, j'imagine, Veder quitte son atelier de la Montagne Saint-Genevi�ve, cette petite place de l'Estrapade qui, malgr� son nom redoutable, dort � l'ombre de paisibles catalpas. Il s'en va, son carton sous les bras, ou sa bo�te d'aquarelle. Il muse le nez en l'air, descend la rue Mouffetard, bavarde avec les comm�res, marchande des fruits aux baladeuses et, si besoin est, boit un verre sur le zinc. Et son oeil note et son crayon enregistre; il dessine et il peint dans un coin, install� vaille que vaille. "Every day, I guess, V�der leaves his studio in the Montagne Saint-Genevieve, in the little place de l'Estrapade which, despite its formidable name, sleeps in the shade of tranquil catalpa trees. He sorties out with his portfolio under his arms, or his box of watercolors. He dawdles, nose in the air, down the Rue Mouffetard, chats with the gossips, from the fruit sellers to the idlers, and, if necessary, pops in for a drink at the bar. And his eye notes and his pencil and records, and he paints in a corner, installed any old how."
Burnand compares V�der's art to that of Jean-Fran�ois Raffa�lli, the great Impressionist pioneer of the colour etching, and it is a comparison that also occurred to me. Interestingly, the earliest work by V�der mentioned by B�n�zit is a 1913 drawing in coloured crayons entitled Les chiffoniers (The rag-and-bone men), a subject that also attracted Raffa�lli.
A second work mentioned by B�n�zit places Eug�ne V�der at Arras in 1916; it is a crayon and watercolour drawing of Arras, porte des Trois Visages.
Eug�ne Louis V�der was born in Saint-Germain-en-Laye in 1876. As B�n�zit attests, his artistic career stretches back before WWI, but I am not sure how active he was as an artist at this time - after all, he was 38 when the war broke out, so if he had been working as an artist much before that time, one would expect more evidence of it.
Whatever the facts, Eug�ne V�der is essentially an artist of the 1920s. He exhibited with the Salon des Artistes Fran�ais from 1922, becoming a member of the society, and receiving a bronze medal in 1923 and a silver in 1925.
V�der received prestigious commissions for etchings of Paris, for instance from the Chalcographie du Louvre, enabling him to establish himself in a studio in the place de l'Estrapade in the Latin Quarter. However his chief patron was certainly Albert Moranc�, who promoted V�der's art in Byblis, and commissioned his masterwork, Paris: cinquante eaux-fortes en couleurs. These etchings remain one of the finest artistic records of the city of Paris. As Robert Burnand puts it, "With a few pencil strokes he evokes the clutter and bustle [of the city] - with a single line, he opens up infinite horizons."
Les Amis du vieux Ch�tillon published a book on V�der in 1993, Eug�ne V�der 1876-1936, but unfortunately I have not been able to track down a copy. V�der's son, Lucien V�der, was also an etcher. Taught by his father, he used the pseudonym Legarf so as not to tread on his father's toes.
Eug�ne V�der, La rue Saint-Denis
Etching, 1926
Byblis was published by the art publisher Albert Moranc�. Moranc� was evidently equally struck by V�der's work, because the Winter 1926 issue of Byblis carries a full-page advertisement for a work to appear the following June from �ditions Albert Moranc�: Paris: 50 Eaux-Fortes originales en couleurs d'Eug�ne V�der, r�unies en un portefeuille d'amateur. There were to be 100 copies on Japon imp�rial at a subscriber's price of 800 francs, 400 copies on v�lin de Rives at a subscription price of 400 francs, and 25 hors commerce copies, 5 on Japon and 20 on Rives. On publication the prices were to rise to 1000 and 500 francs. I believe that 1000 francs then would be about 500 euros today.
Title page of Paris: 50 Eaux-fortes originales
Inscription from Albert Moranc� on the verso of the half-title
In fact the etchings are signed in the plate, not hand-signed. Each one was printed by Eug�ne V�der himself on his own hand press - an incredible labour to achieve a total of 26,250 perfect prints, each painstakingly colour-registered. No wonder he didn't feel like signing them too!
Eug�ne V�der, La place du Parvis Notre-Dame
Etching, 1927
Eug�ne V�der, Sur le Pont-Neuf
Etching, 1927
It has been quite hard to find out all that much about Eug�ne V�der. Every website which lists or mentions him has his date of death wrong, repeating a rare mistake in the art reference bible, B�n�zit. This has him living to be 100, and dying in 1976. As we know from William Sutton's letter, written on November 22, 1949, V�der was already dead by then. In fact he died in 1936.
Eug�ne V�der, La Seine au quai Saint-Michel
Etching, 1927
Eug�ne V�der, Le quai de B�thune
Etching, 1927
Perhaps not surprisingly, the only writing of any substance I have found about V�der is in Byblis, accompanying his etching of La rue Saint-Denis. It is an essay by Robert Vernand, entitled "Eug�ne Veder, Parisien" (Burnand never gives V�der the acute accent). He writes: Tous les jours, j'imagine, Veder quitte son atelier de la Montagne Saint-Genevi�ve, cette petite place de l'Estrapade qui, malgr� son nom redoutable, dort � l'ombre de paisibles catalpas. Il s'en va, son carton sous les bras, ou sa bo�te d'aquarelle. Il muse le nez en l'air, descend la rue Mouffetard, bavarde avec les comm�res, marchande des fruits aux baladeuses et, si besoin est, boit un verre sur le zinc. Et son oeil note et son crayon enregistre; il dessine et il peint dans un coin, install� vaille que vaille. "Every day, I guess, V�der leaves his studio in the Montagne Saint-Genevieve, in the little place de l'Estrapade which, despite its formidable name, sleeps in the shade of tranquil catalpa trees. He sorties out with his portfolio under his arms, or his box of watercolors. He dawdles, nose in the air, down the Rue Mouffetard, chats with the gossips, from the fruit sellers to the idlers, and, if necessary, pops in for a drink at the bar. And his eye notes and his pencil and records, and he paints in a corner, installed any old how."
Eug�ne V�der, La porte de Bagnolet
Etching, 1927
Eug�ne V�der, La place des Vosges
Etching, 1927
Burnand compares V�der's art to that of Jean-Fran�ois Raffa�lli, the great Impressionist pioneer of the colour etching, and it is a comparison that also occurred to me. Interestingly, the earliest work by V�der mentioned by B�n�zit is a 1913 drawing in coloured crayons entitled Les chiffoniers (The rag-and-bone men), a subject that also attracted Raffa�lli.
Jean-Fran�ois Raffa�lli, Le chiffonier
Etching with aquatint, 1911
Eug�ne V�der, La rue Saint-M�dard (March� des Chiffoniers)
Etching, 1927
A second work mentioned by B�n�zit places Eug�ne V�der at Arras in 1916; it is a crayon and watercolour drawing of Arras, porte des Trois Visages.
Eug�ne V�der, Le March� aux Oiseaux
Etching, 1927
Eug�ne V�der, La place de la Madeleine (March� aux Fleurs)
Etching, 1927
Eug�ne Louis V�der was born in Saint-Germain-en-Laye in 1876. As B�n�zit attests, his artistic career stretches back before WWI, but I am not sure how active he was as an artist at this time - after all, he was 38 when the war broke out, so if he had been working as an artist much before that time, one would expect more evidence of it.
Eug�ne V�der, Le parc Monceau
Etching, 1927
Eug�ne V�der, La place Blanche
Etching, 1927
Whatever the facts, Eug�ne V�der is essentially an artist of the 1920s. He exhibited with the Salon des Artistes Fran�ais from 1922, becoming a member of the society, and receiving a bronze medal in 1923 and a silver in 1925.
Eug�ne V�der, Le Moulin de la Galette
Etching, 1927
Eug�ne V�der, La Pointe Saint--Eustache
Etching, 1927
V�der received prestigious commissions for etchings of Paris, for instance from the Chalcographie du Louvre, enabling him to establish himself in a studio in the place de l'Estrapade in the Latin Quarter. However his chief patron was certainly Albert Moranc�, who promoted V�der's art in Byblis, and commissioned his masterwork, Paris: cinquante eaux-fortes en couleurs. These etchings remain one of the finest artistic records of the city of Paris. As Robert Burnand puts it, "With a few pencil strokes he evokes the clutter and bustle [of the city] - with a single line, he opens up infinite horizons."
Eug�ne V�der, Le Pont des Arts et l'Institut
Etching, 1927
Eug�ne V�der, La Tour Eiffel vue d'Auteuil
Etching, 1927
Les Amis du vieux Ch�tillon published a book on V�der in 1993, Eug�ne V�der 1876-1936, but unfortunately I have not been able to track down a copy. V�der's son, Lucien V�der, was also an etcher. Taught by his father, he used the pseudonym Legarf so as not to tread on his father's toes.
