Philippe Trière

Philippe Trière spent years sketching Parisian street scenes until one day he folded a blank sheet into thirds and drew the Three Goddesses straight from memory—no models, no references, just the way the light hit the Seine at dawn. The print looks like three muses leaning over the river, but they’re all the same woman dressed up in different hats. Look closely at the middle figure’s cuff: Trière left the copper plate uninked there so the paper shows through like a secret. Try spotting it next time you’re near a copy at the Print Study Room in the National Library.