Engraving Large boat in Saint-Valéry-en-Caux

Emile-Frédéric Nicolle, grandfather of the famous Cubist painter and engraver Jacques Villon (pseudonym of Gaston Duchamp), several engraved plates by whom are held by the Chalcography, produced his first etching at the age of twenty-four.
A painter and watercolourist, he was an attentive witness to...

Emile-Frédéric Nicolle, grandfather of the famous Cubist painter and engraver Jacques Villon (pseudonym of Gaston Duchamp), several engraved plates by whom are held by the Chalcography, produced his first etching at the age of twenty-four.
A painter and watercolourist, he was an attentive witness to the changes taking place in his native city of Rouen. As a member of the Société des Amis des Arts de Rouen, he drew and engraved the main buildings of Rouen before they disappeared during the city's redevelopment.
He participated in the 1878 Universal Exhibition and several times in the Salons des Artistes Français in Paris with his etchings. In 1883, he received the Palmes Académiques.
His engraved work can be divided into two parts. His views of Rouen's monuments and streets are a lyrical testimony to the old city. His landscapes, particularly those of Saint-Valery-en-Caux, where he spent his summers, focus on the daily and picturesque activities of this port.