Rue de Mont Cenis, Montmartre

Charles Adams Platt

1861–1933

Rue de Mont Cenis, Montmartre, 1884

Where object was made: France

Material/technique: wove paper; etching

Dimensions:
Image Dimensions Height/Width (Height x Width): 138 x 212 mm
Sheet/Paper Dimensions (Height x Width): 279 x 381 mm
Image Dimensions Height/Width (Height x Width): 5 7/16 x 8 3/8 in
Sheet/Paper Dimensions (Height x Width): 11 0.9843 x 15 in
Mat Dimensions (Height x Width): 14 x 19 in

Credit line: Source unknown

Accession number: 0000.0484

Not on display

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Label texts

Exhibition Label:
"American Etchers Abroad, 1880-1939," Apr-2004, Reed Anderson
Except for the summer of 1885, which he spent in New York City, Charles Platt studied in Europe from 1882 to 1889. "Rue de Mont Genis, Montmartre" attests to the radical change that occured in Platt’s etching style while he was abroad. The straightforward realism that characterizes Platt’s early work was supplanted by an unmistakable Whistlerian approach in which insignificant details were intentionally suppressed and he used sketchy, vigorously drawn lines to define and shape forms. Deeply scored and bitten lines define the tree at the left and buildings in the distance. Fainter, lightly drawn lines, like those in the sky, suggest the atmospheric effects Platt encountered in nature and sought to reproduce in his etchings. Platt developed a wash-like effect that he once described as “acid tint” to enhance tonal contrasts. Human beings rarely appear in Platt’s prints and when they are represented, as in this etching, they receive minimal attention.