After Alfred GUESDON (1808-1876) - Lot 183

After Alfred GUESDON (1808-1876) Aerial view of Avignon, taken from Quai au Bois Lithograph by Georges Muller Good proof on vellum, from the famous suite "Voyage aérien en France". H. 40 cm - L. 53.5 cm (the sheet) ANC Some spotting The lithographs by Alfred Guesdon (Nantes, 1808 - 1876) constitute one of the most remarkable sets of urban representation in the XIXᵉ century. Trained as an architect and virtuoso draughtsman, Guesdon developed an original bird's-eye view technique in the 1840s, rendering French cities as if observed from a balloon. Created from precise surveys and set in stone by lithographers such as Muller, these plates offer a spectacular, meticulous vision of the urban fabric, monuments and port or industrial activity. Published in particular by Hauser, they form the series known today as "France aérienne" or "France en ballon", a veritable panorama of the territory under the Second Empire.