Friday 27 January 2012

Last day of the Art Nouveau Exhibition tomorrow

Make sure you pop down to the gallery if you want to catch a glimpse of our Art Nouveau show before we clear the decks to make way for the infamous Febuary Sale.

The exhibition has sold very well but there a still a few striking pieces that have not yet been snapped up, such  as Les Cygnes [The Swans] pictured left.

Les Cygnes [The Swans]
Francis Jourdain 
Lithograph
L'Estampe Moderne, no. 18, October 1898.
Image 230 x 335 mm, Sheet 305 x 404 mm

From L'Estampe Moderne, no. 18, October 1898.

Blind stamped in bottom-right corner of sheet with the image of a young woman’s profile, the emblem of L'Estampe Moderne.

Francis Jourdain (1876-1958) was a designer, writer and painter who learned printmaking from the Impressionist etcher Henri Guérard. He was also taught by Eugène Carrière and Albert Besnard. Jourdain collaborated with Besnard on the decoration of the chapel of the Hospice de Berck. He was also one of the founder members of the Salon d'Automne.

L'Estampe Moderne was first published in five folios between November 1895 and March 1896 and edited by Loÿs Delteil. The aim was to promote the art of printmaking by commissioning images from noted Art Nouveau artists. It reappeared under the editorship of Ch. Masson and H. Piazza in May 1897 and was published monthly until April 1899. Each edition was priced at 3 francs 50 centimes and printed by Imprimerie Champenois, Paris. As well as four original lithographs by Art Nouveau artists, each issue came in a paper cover bearing an original lithograph by one of the most famous members of the movement, Alphonse Mucha. The publisher also offered two extra lithographs a year, the “planches de prime”, as an incentive to prospective subscribers. 



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