Fitch-Febvrel 242. Plate 6 from Le Magasin central des imprimés. Numbered in pencil lower left margin: “22/75 – planche no. 6”; titled in pencil lower center margin: “Le Magasin central des imprimés / Les Escaliers côté est”; signed and dated in pencil lower right margin: “Erik Desmazières – 2013”. Printed on BFK Rives. A fine impression in fine condition. Sheet measures 29 x 17 1/2 inches.

Sold as a suite of 7 etchings including frontispiece, contained in a cloth album with etched étiquette. Number 22 in an edition of 75 (numbers 1-50 sold en suite). The suite was commissioned by les Amis de la Bibliothèque nationale de France (BnF) to both document and celebrate the cavernous stacks, the storage area designed by Henri Labrouste in the 19th century, now emptied of all books in preparation for a major renovation. The artist was able to faithfully transcribe the architecture of the space, while transforming it into a dramatic visual vernacular unmistakably his own.

Sold as a suite for $10,000.