Page:Chats on old prints (IA chatsonoldprints00haydiala).pdf/429

 Some few years ago there was a great burst of enthusiasm among artists for work on the stone, though as a matter of fact lithographic paper has been so greatly improved that the major portion of modern work is done on that medium. Among artistic printers the name of Mr. T. Way stands pre-*eminent as having lovingly imprinted much of the work of the greatest modern lithographers, nor should one omit the charming lithographs of T. R. Way, Lanark Wharf and the Lower Pool.

In France the names of Gavarni (1804-1866), Daumier (1808-1879), Célestin Nanteuil (1813-1873), and A. Devéria (1810-1857) are classics already among lithographers, though the art is only a century old. There is something peculiarly adapted to the French spirit in the practice of lithography, and in result there is a particularly satisfying charm about much of the work. François Ferogio has worked on stone with a finesse and subtlety that is unsurpassed. His silvery effects of the morning mists breaking through the filigree-like branches of the overarched trees, with the soft and subdued light scintillating on the foliage, endow his work with a romantic feeling and a poetic charm. But a whole list of masterly French artists are at the call of the discerning collector. Géricault, E. J. Horace Vernet (1789-1863), Carle Vernet (1758-1836), Baffet, Charlet, Delacroix, and, above all, Eugène Isabey (1803-1886), whose coast scenes, with their old tumbled houses, have all the tone of masterly mezzotints, but with infinitely more colour and light. His Barques de Pêcheurs is especially fine.