Willem Witsen - Hilly landscape, varnish-mou

Willem Witsen (1860-1923), Hilly landscape 1891, varnish-mou.
In cat. De Groot nr. 64, Boon nr. 62. Rarely offered. A preliminary study is in the Rijksprentenkabinet. Signed with monogram “WW” in brown ink lower right. Image size 19.8 x 24.2 cm, paper 26x35, frame 40x46x2 cm. The print is from the only state, as is usually the case with a varnish-mou. The edition is unknown, with varnish-mou the maximum number of successful prints cannot be determined in advance. The work is framed with spring clips, so that it can easily be removed from the frame. The work was removed from the frame for the photos in indirect daylight. It is attached to the passe-partout on the back with the narrowest possible edge of acid-free tape (1mm). Also along the top is an old label of art dealer Van Wisseling, the publisher of Witsen's graphics.
The varnish-mou is a delicate technique, which differs from the normal etching by the use of soft varnish. Thin paper is applied to this, on which the etcher applies the drawing with a pencil. The pressure of the pencil presses the paper into the varnish. Witsen, especially later, from 1915 onwards, regularly used the varnish-mou technique, sometimes in combination with normal etching. Witsen possibly wrote the following about this etching, together with no. 65 “Struiken op een zandverdriving”: “I have a feeling that those two etchings from yesterday will turn out well (…) not black but oh so beautifully fine blond (…) those beautiful soft green valleys with those yellow and brown-green woods and some fine-slender birches.” For the full quote see De Groot no. 64.