Arty Farty Friday ~ Mystery Pic...Escher, Schuiten?

This picture is a mystery and a fantasy - Neptunian then! It's all about buildings and structure though, so in another way it's Saturnian. I found this large (36"x28"), nicely framed print in 2006, in a junk-cum-antique store in a nearby town. It was marked "Unique print, frame and mat alone are worth the asking price". True enough. The print has been tastefully framed and triple matted by someone, who at some time obviously loved and valued this picture. (Image might enlarge if clicked upon - not sure though).

When I first saw the print I was immediately attracted by the light in the window of the building in the foreground, the architecture of the doorway and windows reminded me of a building where I once worked. But the entire fantasy cityscape was and remains a mystery. I've been unable to find any information as to its artist or source. It's a good quality print. I've wondered if it might originally have been part of an even larger illustration, it sometimes gives that impression.

Those hilly structures are reminiscent of Italian hill towns, but there is no hint of vegetation or trees in the picture, and there are just too many buildings to fit that theory. The architecture is definitely European though, but not British. The picture reminds me of some of Escher's early work which depicted Italian landscapes. At right is the first lithograph ever made by M.C. Escher -"Goriano Sicoli, Abruzzi" (1929). Escher's illustrations were, as far as I know, in black and white, or occasionally black with some other colour. I doubt that our picture is a print of an early Escher illustration, but the artist was almost certainly influenced by Escher.

Perhaps my picture illustrated the artist's idea of a city of the future, or from another dimension? Whenever I gaze at it I always come back to the lighted room in the foremost building - perhaps someone in there was dreaming.......

I posted the photo of the picture on my blog in 2007, with request for ideas. Only one comment was received, from Ariana, remarking that, "It feels very Dutch & medieval, out of a fairy tale".... Indeed!

My husband posted a photo of the picture on his Flickr page, asking for ideas. He received the suggestion that it looked like something Francois Schuiten might have created. A flurry of research ensued. It does look like Schuiten's style, in his Les Cités Obscures (literally The Obscure Cities, but initially published in English as Cities of the Fantastic). It is a graphic novel series set on a Counter-Earth, created by Belgian comics artist François Schuiten and his friend, writer Benoît Peeters in the early 1980s. In this fictional world, humans live in independent city-states, each of which has developed a distinct civilization, each characterized by a distinctive architectural style. (From Wikipedia)

I've been unable to trace anything of Schuiten's that is even near to similar to the city in my picture, despite continuing to search over the years since 2006. One would expect, that if it had been produced in large format for framing, then it would be one of his well-known popular images, and would turn up online somewhere. Many of his illustrations contain similar colours and shades to those in my picture, and his drawing style is very similar, even though subject matter differs a lot. It's the nearest we've come to solving the mystery.

If any passing reader recognises the picture or the style, or can add any further information at all, I'd be delighted to hear from them.

UPDATE - Many thanks to commenter "Kidd" for information leading to this discovery:

AND Googling further I found a video with (I think) Jean Pattou himself appearing and taking over at around 3.31 mins.
My schoolgirl French isn't up to following the presentation, but more of the artist's works pop up to the bottom right of the video as the presentation proceeds.

VIDEO