Porte de Bourgogne a Moret

 

Caroline Armington

  1875 - 1939 (biography)

1917  

etching 

6 7/8 x 5 1/8" platemark 

pencil, lower right; initalled "CHA" in plate, center right 

Epreuve d'essai (trial proof) 

editioned in pencil, lower left; titled in plate, lower right along platemark; dated in plate beneath initials, center right 

Braide & Parke-Taylor no. 188 

soft, antique-white wove 

second state proof (from possible total of two states) 

 

23540 

$300.00 

Caroline Armington depicts the Porte de Bourgogne, a 12th century fortified and gate wall flanking Moret-sur-Loing village, which connects to Monmartre. Situated along the Loring river - a tributary of the Seine - it was a place of activity for the villagers who used the river port for commerce and for laundry day. In this image the gatehouse, bridge, and Loing are seen on a clear day, reflected in the gently flowing river.

In 1917, Caroline and Frank Armington were remporarily living in Paris after their trip to Europe to sketch the sites was stalled by the ever-encroaching spread of the Great War. Offered the chance to leave France for the safety of their Canadian home, they opted instead to remain and volunteer with the French Army as a nurse and orderly, respectively. The medieval structures of Moret-sur-Loing were a point of interest to Armington when she had breaks between nursing shifts.