Houses in the Courtyard

1895–96

Lithograph in four colors, image 34.5 × 25.7 cm. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (impression shown: Petit Palais, Paris)

A window frames the back of an apartment building, with shutters, chimneys and one woman leaning out. The window's own dark frame runs down the left side and across the bottom.

The everyday city appears in just four printed colors, mostly soft grays and beiges. A few muted inks are enough to hold the whole mood.
It belongs to Vollard's 1899 album of Paris life: 12 prints, issued in 100 copies.
Look for the tiny touches of orange on the chimney pots.
A trial proof at the Art Institute adds violet and hand-applied yellow.
The Met bought its impression in 1928 through the Harris Brisbane Dick Fund.

The album set out to show the private Paris that residents knew. In hand-colored proofs, he tried moving the season from a wintry gray to a warm olive.

Image: Wikimedia Commons · CC0