Artwork
Les Faisans
Les Faisans is an ink print by the Romanticist artist Karl Bodmer. It dates from 1851 and is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art.
About this work
Overview
Created in 1851, *Les Faisans* is an etching by Karl Bodmer, a Swiss‑French artist whose career encompassed printmaking, lithography and painting. Executed after Bodmer had established his residence in France, the work belongs to the later phase of his output, when he turned his attention to more intimate, natural subjects.
Subject & Meaning
The image presents a quiet woodland scene centered on a solitary, towering tree whose green foliage spreads upward. A fallen log, draped with leaves and ferns, occupies the foreground, reinforcing the composition’s sense of stillness and the passage of time within the forest.
Technique & Style
Rendered through the etching process, the work displays fine line work that captures the bark’s texture and the delicate pattern of leaves. Muted tonal values and soft transitions lend the piece a tranquil, romantic atmosphere, characteristic of Bodmer’s approach to printmaking in the mid‑nineteenth century.
History & Provenance
*Les Faisans* emerged during Bodmer’s post‑migration period in France, a time when he increasingly explored domestic landscapes. While specific ownership records are scarce, the print has been documented in catalogues of Bodmer’s oeuvre and is cited as an example of his mature print work.
Own this work as a print
Artist & collection
Artist
Johann Carl Bodmer (11 February 1809 – 30 October 1893) was a Swiss-French printmaker, etcher, lithographer, zinc engraver, draughtsman, painter, illustrator, and hunter.
Shooting the Woodcock
Frontispiece
Deer by a Stream
The Inner Forest (Intérieur du bois)
Liber Studiorum: Procris and Cephalus
A Thicket; a Gnarled Willow Tree at Left, a Thicket of Vegetation at Right
Italian Landscape
Fir Trees at the Water
Daims dans un Parc
Study of Trees and Shrubs with Seated Figure
Wooded Landscape beside a River
Les Faisans