HENRI DUFOUR, Etching, ANGKOR Bayon, Cambodia, Indochina, Artist's Proof / Eugène CORBIN

Henri DUFOUR (1870-1939)

The Bayon at Angkor Thom,
Etching and aquatint printed in sepia on paper with wide, untrimmed margins,
Signed in pencil lower right "H. Dufour",
Annotated "Épr. d'artiste" in pencil lower left and marked with a circular lotus stamp in the lower left margin.
Sheet dimensions: 58 x 38.5 cm.

Provenance: formerly in the collection of Eugène CORBIN (1867–1952), Nancy.
In very fine condition, with a fresh impression and beautiful, complete margins with original deckle edges. Note some slight undulations in the paper and some old mounting hinge remnants on the verso at the edge of the sheet, without affecting the image.

This print illustrates the surveying and artistic interpretation work carried out by Henri Dufour at the Angkor site. The composition depicts the monumental face-shaped towers of the Bayon temple, still partially overgrown with vegetation and kapok tree roots, in a contrasting interplay of light and shadow achieved through etching and aquatint.
Born in Nancy in 1870 and trained at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, the architect and engraver Henri Dufour was appointed Inspector of Civil Buildings in Cambodia in 1900. In 1901, the French School of the Far East entrusted him with the first official archaeological mission dedicated to the Bayon, alongside Charles Carpeaux. Upon his return to France, he published a seminal work on the monument's bas-reliefs in 1910 and translated his drawings and photographs into a series of etchings.

Location:

-https://angkordatabase.asia/books/le-bayon-dangkor-thom-bas-reliefs-the-bayon-of-angkor-thom-bas-reliefs?
-https://www.persee.fr/doc/befeo_0336-1519_1914_num_14_1_2855

Ref: VS2K1E813M