By: François Houtin

Medium: etching (also includes catalogue raisonne)
Image Size: 8 x 7 inches
Edition: 75
Year: 2002

1er Nymphée exemplifies François Houtin’s mastery of the imagined landscape—an architectural fantasy rendered with the precision of a Renaissance etching. The scene depicts a grotto-like temple set within a rugged mountain valley, where stone, foliage, and architecture merge seamlessly into one another. Trees rise like columns, and distant spires crown the structure with delicate symmetry. Originally created for the deluxe edition of Houtin’s Catalogue Raisonné, this print encapsulates his lifelong fascination with gardens as metaphors for creation and reverie.