Félix-Hilaire Buhot

Born in 1847 in the small Normandy town of Valognes, in northern France, Félix-Hilaire Buhot moved to Paris in 1865, where a year later he enrolled in the École des Beaux-Arts, studying painting and drawing under various artists. Buhot first learned to etch in about 1873, producing his first etching later that year and quickly establishing himself as a successful printmaker. The young artist made his living by decorating fans and illustrating lithographic sheet music. Buhot lived and worked most of his life in Paris, with frequent visits back to northern France and extended trips to England where he met his wife, Henrietta Johnston, whom he married in 1881. By 1892 Buhot had ceased making prints, and in 1898, after suffering prolonged bouts of deep depression, he died at the age of fifty-one. - Australian National Gallery