French, 1872-1936.

Manuel Robbe was a brilliant printmaker who mastered the aquatint technique. He learned the intricacies of etching and aquatint from master etcher Eugene Delatre. He exhibited regularly at the Salons of Societe des Artistes Francais and in 1900, he received a bronze medal at the World’s Fair for his contribution to printmaking.

In the beginning of his career, Robbe began to incorporate many innovative etching techniques into his artwork, such as, the sugar-lift, aquatint and “à la poupee.” His technique was developed over several phases. He painted his design with a mixture of sugar, India ink and gum arabic on a zinc plate. The plate was then covered entirely with a varnish. By immersing the plate in water, the sugar would melt, leaving a thin white line. Resin was added and the plate was heated from the bottom. The plate was placed into an acid bath, to bite the lines and establish line intensity. Finally, Robbe painted the plate with an oil brush made of rags called “à la poupee.” Robbe would arrive with new shades of color with each impression, because he would have to paint the plate each time an impression was pulled. He always succeeded in giving his aquatints great intensity, unique color diversity and extraordinary painterly effects.

Robbe was influenced by the most of the important nineteenth century artists such as Degas, Renoir, Legrand, Chahine and Lautrec.