Manuel Robbe

Place of Birth:	Paris, France
DOB:	1872
DOD:	1936
Style:	Impressionist
Brief History:	Born in Paris in 1872, Manuel Robbe developed his art during the years of controversy preceding the revolution of early 20th century modern art. Robbe studied painting at the Academia Julian and the Ecole des Beaux-Arts. He learned printmaking early on, exhibited at the Salons and won a metal at the Paris Exposition Universelle in 1900. Robbe was noted for his experimental approach to printmaking, and during his career created more than 200 aquatints and drypoints. He was a great technician, "inventing a technique known as "sugar-life" which gave his prints a startling subtlety. Robbe's technique was developed over several phases. He printed his design with a mixture of sugar, India ink and gum Arabic, on his zinc plate. This was followed by heating the plate. With the rebirth of a market for prints as collectable, color prints came to be regarded as objects meant to be displayed on walls, like paintings, rather than kept closed in portfolios. Robbe's very painterly aquatints served the function well, for he developed his prints with a depth of tone and modeled mass more often seen in paintings than in the graphic arts, yet still with a printmaker's regard for the special textures and sparkle of works on paper.