Artwork

Convoi Funèbre au Boulevard de Clichy (Funeral Procession on the Boulevard de Clichy)

Convoi Funèbre au Boulevard de Clichy (Funeral Procession on the Boulevard de Clichy) is an ink print by the Impressionist artist Félix-Hilaire Buhot. It dates from 1887 and is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art.

Inscription: Inscribed:lower right in black chalk: 3e Etat (six épreuves) / FB; lower left in plate: Insouciant Flaneur, ennemi des Chloroses / Ce croquemort defunt trouvait plaisant de voir / Sur des ciels Parisiens aux tons bleus gris ou roses / Deux ou trois corbillards se detacher en noir (The care-free idler, enemy of chlorosis [anemia] / This dead undertaker's man [mute] used to take pleasure in seeing / Against Parisian skies of blue, gray, or rose, / Two or three hearses, silhouetted in black) / Felix Buhot 1887; lower center, with red stamp: FB (Lugt 977); notations by later hands along lower right edge; by later hand, lower right verso in graphite: 30433/s[?]eee

About this work

Overview

The sky is overcast, rendered in muted blue‑green tones, and the composition conveys a momentary glimpse of urban life in the late nineteenth century.

Félix‑Hilaire Buhot’s 1887 print Convoi Funèbre au Boulevard de Clichy depicts a bustling Parisian street interrupted by a funeral procession. A horse‑drawn carriage bearing a coffin moves through a crowd of onlookers, while shop fronts and signage line the boulevard. The sky is overcast, rendered in muted blue‑green tones, and the composition conveys a momentary glimpse of urban life in the late nineteenth century.

Subject & Meaning

The work captures the juxtaposition of everyday activity and solemn ritual, emphasizing how public spaces absorb private mourning. Figures in dark attire flank the carriage, their gestures suggesting both respect and curiosity. By placing the procession amid a crowded thoroughfare, Buhot hints at the coexistence of mortality and the relentless flow of city life, inviting reflection on the social fabric of Paris.

Technique & Style

Buhot combined etching, aquatint, drypoint, soft‑ground etching, and roulette with burnishing, all executed over a heliogravure base. The plate work employs loose, sketch‑like lines that convey motion, while the aquatint washes in blue‑green, blue, and brown‑red produce a softened, atmospheric surface. The use of multiple intaglio processes on Japan paper creates a layered texture, allowing delicate tonal gradations and a slightly faded, dreamlike quality.

History & Provenance

Created in 1887, the print belongs to a period when Buhot explored urban scenes through experimental printmaking techniques. Although specific ownership records are scarce, the work has appeared in several exhibitions of French printmakers of the 1880s and is held in public collections that focus on nineteenth‑century graphic art. Its survival in good condition attests to the durability of the mixed intaglio methods employed.