Eaux-fortes par Bracquemond, 1854 [titre pour la couverture d'un album].

Félix Bracquemond was a French artist who lived from 1833 to 1914. He is remembered mostly for his gorgeous etchings. His work helped inspire a revival in printmaking as a modern art form. Bracquemond was born in Paris. As a boy he wanted to become a circus horse rider, but his family had him apprenticed to learn lithography. At age 15, his talents were recognized by the artist, Joseph Guichard, who then took him on as a student. By 1852, Bracquemond was exhibiting his works at the prestigious Paris Salon. Using an old encyclopedia, Bracquemond had taught himself the art of etching. He played an important part in the etching revival that took place in France in the mid-nineteenth century. Bracquemond’s exposure to the Japanese woodcuts of Katsushiki Hokusai in the mid-nineteenth century is often seen as the start of the French Japonisme craze that swept the art world for several decades. In 1856, Bracquemond acquired a copy of the Japanese artist, Hokusai’s Manga engravings. They had been used in the packaging of porcelain, another object of increasing value and popularity. Bracquemond collected the engravings and divided them out to himself and his friends.