Félix Buhot is a fascinating nineteenth-century etcher who developed a style without parallel. He frequently combined a central image with extensive marginal illustrations that are reminiscent of glosses in medieval manuscripts. He took as his personal symbol, or alter ego, the owl featured in this print. The owl’s shadow is a silhouetted profile portrait of the artist...A maculature is an impression taken to clean the excess ink from a printed plate. It’s not meant to go on the market and is a studio byproduct. In this particular maculature, the print had been pulled with color added in small sections using a pounce (à la poupée).

from Calendar of Events, January-August 2013