Haute Fidélité, Etching With Aquatint By Jacqueline Debutler, 1971

Etching with aquatint in black and red by French artist Jacqueline Debutler (b. 1932, Compiègne), titled Haute Fidélité in pencil verso. The print pairs a densely worked, finely hatched black plate — building up an architectural form pierced by a deep aquatint arch — against a single saturated red passage that cuts diagonally across the sheet, the small reserved white disc providing the only counterpoint. Signed ‘Debutler’ in pencil lower right and inscribed ‘E.A’ (épreuve d’artiste) lower left, this an artist’s proof outside the numbered edition. Haute Fidélité is the first title in the catalogue of Debutler’s etchings exhibited by the World Bank Art Society in Washington, D.C., in November 1971, allowing this impression to be dated firmly to that year. Debutler trained at the École des Beaux-Arts in Amiens before four years of post-graduate study with Johnny Friedländer in Paris, and her etchings were published in Paris by Éditions Hautot and Éditions de la Tortue and distributed in the United States by Editions AAA. Examples are held in the Bibliothèque Nationale de Paris. Printed on heavy deckled-edge mould-made paper. Acquired directly from the artist’s family, with supporting archive material. France, 1971.

Designer   
Jacqueline Debutler (b. 1932)

Title   
Haute Fidélité (inscribed verso)

Signed   
‘Debutler’ in pencil, lower right

Numbered   
E.A (épreuve d’artiste / artist’s proof), in pencil lower left; inventory number ‘4104’ in pencil verso

Literature   
The World Bank Art Society, Modern Graphics (Eaux-Fortes) by Brillant and Debutler, Washington, D.C., 5–26 November 1971, listed as the first title in the Debutler section of the catalogue

Provenance   
Acquired directly from the artist’s family

Condition   
even registration of both plates, very good condition; sheet clean and bright with full deckled edges; minor light handling and scattered foxing specks to outer margins consistent with age and storage; image area fresh with strong