Eric Gillis Fine Art - Catalogue 18 - June 2016

1585 1898 Fine Prints

Catalogue 18

1585 1898 Fine Prints

ERIC GILLIS FINE ART T +32 2 503 14 64 W www.eg-fineart.com M info@eg-fineart.com 14, rue aux laines | 1000 Brussels | Belgium

June 2016

1 Hendrick Goltzius 1558 Mülbracht – Haarlem 1617

The Engraver Theodorus Dirck Volckertz. Coornhert

Engraving on laid paper, ca. 1591-92 Plate 422 x 322 mm Reference Bartsch 164; Hollstein 180; Strauss 287; New Hollstein 211, 3rd (final) state, without the ornamental frame

Bartsch wrote “The piece is one of the finest engraved works

by Hendrick Goltzius. It seems as if, as a gesture of gratitude, he wanted to demonstrate everything he was capable of doing in the portrait of the man from whom he had learned the principles of the art of engraving”. These words have lost none of their impact and validity over the intervening centuries. It seems as if here Goltzius pulled out all the stops. It is also his largest portrait print. The viewer experiences the feeling that they can touch the loose, sagging skin under the eyes.

It is generally admitted, but not for sure, that the ornamental frame was not intended by Goltzius. The portrait with its

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border inscription was printed from a copper plate that had been cut into an oval. Be this as it may, the decorative flourishes of the print were obtained from a separate, rectangular copper plate with an oval cut out.

A fine impression, accurate and sharp. Every atom of Goltzius’s exceptional engraving technique has been harnessed here to suggest the man’s physical presence. An impressive tribute to his teacher.

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2 Andrea Andreani ca. 1558/59 – Mantua – 1629

Madonna and Child accompanied by the Infant Saint John the Baptist

Chiaroscuro woodcut printed from four blocks in shades of ochre, brown and black on laid paper, 1585 Watermark Serpent Plate 427 x 337 mm Reference Bartsch 27, 3rd (final) state; Meyer I.720.24, 3rd (final) state Provenance John Linnell (1792-1882), London (by repute); Christopher Mendez, London, 1988; Private collection, England

The image is after the Venetian painter Jacopo Ligozzi and represents the Virgin and Child, with Saint John the Baptist as a child, Saint Francis on the right and Saint Catherine of Siena on the left. This is a simplified version of the classical representation of the holy relationship of Jesus which usually also included Anne, Joachim and other ancestors, according to the census taken in the Golden Legend. Here, they have been replaced by two of the most popular Italian saints of the time.

The least we can say is that it is a very impressive impression, of great freshness, with considerable embossing. Being among

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the first printmakers in Italy to use chiaroscuro, Andreani was still in Florence when he made the present block. Most of the other copies recorded were printed from four blocks in olive green and black inks, what make them much less attractive. The British Museum has an impression of that type, but less fresh. The sheet is in good condition; the four corners have been slightly canted, two central horizontal creases with nicks at the edges.

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3 Jean Morin ca. 1605 – Paris – 1650

Antoine Vitré, the King’s Typographer

Etching on laid paper, ca. 1645 Plate 318 x 216 mm Reference Robert-Dumesnil, vol. 2, p. 69, no. 88 (only state) and vol. 11, p. 216, no. 3rd (final) state; Hornibrook & Petitjean 49, 3rd state of four; Mazel 094, 3rd (final) state Literature Osbert Barnard, “Jean Morin’s Etched Portraits. Additions and Corrections to Hornibrook’s Catalogue”, in Print Quarterly, vol. II, no. 1, 1985, pp. 38-42 Provenance Peter Birmann & Söhne (Lugt 2110 and 414 c)

A very fine impression, with no trace of wear.

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4 Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo 1727 – Venice – 1804

The Arts paying homage to the Papal Authority of Pope Pius VI

Etching on laid paper, 1775 Watermarked Initials FV with stars Plate 340 x 230 mm, 428 x 315 mm with the ornamental border Reference Rizzi 158; De Vesme 98, only state

A fine impression of the only state, with the ornamental border printed from a different plate, and with wide margins. Rare.

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Léon Cogniet

1794 – Paris – 1888

Portrait of Theodore Géricault

Lithograph on Chine appliqué on wove paper, 1836 Stone 153 x 133 mm Reference Beraldi 12; Inventaire du Fonds Français 3-1 Provenance Henri M. Petiet, Paris

Very fine impression with wide margins. Rare.

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6 Rodolphe Bresdin 1822 Montrelais – Sèvres 1885

The Rest in Egypt with donkey and pack-saddle

Etching on Chine appliqué on wove paper, 1871 Plate 228 x 199 mm Reference Van Gelder 138-II, 2nd (final) state of the etching

A superb impression of the etching, second state. There is only one first state impression recorded, and the composition is mostly known from the transfer onto stone according to a lithographic process. The original etching version is thus very rare to find on the market, and gives a much better sense of the Bresdin’s proliferation of lines, dots and hatchings.

About a fifth of the work by Bresdin is devoted to religious subjects. Out of these 30 plates, seventeen concern the representation of the Holy Family, in various circumstances: Adoration of the Shepherds or Magi, Flight into Egypt, Rest in Egypt...This is all the more surprising as Bresdin was openly anticlerical. According to his daughter Rodolphine, the artist was however deeply attached to the biblical stories and used to read the Testaments aloud in his house. He began to etch this subject very early as a Holy Family print was already dated 1839, when he was seventeen (Van Gelder 2).

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Several authors have seen the Flights and Rests in Egypt of Bresdin as generated by his permanent desire to escape.

However, the flight into Egypt was a forced exile to escape persecution or death. Indeed, it can be proposed that Bresdin left Paris after 1848 because he feared he would be arrested for his opinions; however, later, he was not worried for his participation to La Commune. His flights to Egypt are less hasty departures than rests and stops during the exile. The scene is quiet, the protagonists are sheltered in the middle of the trees, near fresh water.

The original copper plate still exists; it was acquired by the Maryland Institute of Art (unknown date) and rediscovered in 1969. The plate was weak and steel-faced, and a contemporary edition of 243 impressions was made in 1975 under the auspices of the Maryland Institute of Art, on vellum paper with the watermark “R.”

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7 Rodolphe Bresdin 1822 Montrelais – Sèvres 1885

The Hunters surprized by Death

Etching on wove paper laid down on a support sheet, 1857 Blind-stamped in an oval RB ft (Lugt 2194); dedicated in pencil by Bresdin’s daughter Rodolphine to Ary Leblond Aux grands amis M. A. Leblond / Hommage et souvenir en mémoire de mon père / Rodolphine Bresdin Plate 80 x 140 mm Reference Van Gelder 88, 2nd state of four Provenance Rodolphine Bresdin; Alexandre Merlot, called Ary Leblond, Reunion

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8 Ludovic-Napoléon Lepic 1839 – Paris – 1889

Crow in a snow landscape

Etching on laid paper, ca. 1870 Signed in the plate Lepic Plate 100 x 280 mm Literature Thierry Zimmer, Ludovic-Napoléon Lepic (1839-1889), Le Patron, Berck-sur-Mer, 2013

Mat stain overall but image in very good condition.

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9 Albert Besnard 1849 – Paris – 1934

The Hangman

Etching and drypoint on laid paper, 1873 Plate 162 x 202 mm Reference Delteil 2; Godefroy 2, 2nd (final) state

This is the second engraving by the artist. Noted by Delteil « De la plus grande rareté ». There is only one 1st state copy recorded.

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10 Camille Pissarro 1830 Saint-Thomas – Paris 1903

Self-portrait with long white beard, cap and glasses, bust-length

Drypoint with aquatint, with surface tone on watermarked laid paper, ca. 1890-91 Signed lower right with pencil C. Pissarro and annotated lower left 1er état nr. 13 Plate 186 x 177 mm Reference Delteil 90, 2nd (final) state Literature Barbara Shapiro, Camille Pissarro the Impressionist Printmaker, Boston, 1973, no. 34; Barbara Shapiro, “Prints”, in Pissarro, London; Paris; Boston, 1980-81, no. 184, p. 217; Nicole Minder, Degas et Pissarro, Vevey, 1998, no. 85 Provenance Presumably Jean Cailac, Paris; his daughter Paule Cailac, Paris; thence by heirs

Unquestionably the most famous and rarest picture by Camille Pissarro, and the quintessence of the Impressionist portrait. Pissarro painted four self-portraits, among them one on a red background might look like the present one but the artist is seen there from three-quarter length (Venturi 1114). Unlike Rembrandt who etched many self-portraits, Pissarro made only one when he was sixty. He wrote later in May 1891: “I have made it for friends” 1. In this superb sheet, his full white beard, half-trimmed glasses and the artist’s soft cap emerge from a shadowy, Rembrandtesque background. Pissarro, gentle and of patriarchal countenance, gazes directly and thoughtfully at the viewer with a pensive quality and psychological insight that earned him religious sobriquets, like “Moses” by Durranty or the “Good Lord”

by Cézanne.

The zinc plate of pour quality did not yield many rich impressions, probably the reason why there were at most only twenty-eight impressions pulled, among them one was presented at the 3rd exhibition of Les Peintres-Graveurs at Durand-Ruel in April 1891. Pissarro wrote, again in May 1891: “I had a poor plate and no means of pulling state proofs”.

However, the present sheet with a fine tone of ink that gently models the artist’s features was especially well printed. All

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impressions appear to have been numbered by Pissarro « 1er état » with a number. The highest number still recorded

by Delteil was 26, but there were for this number “bis” and “ter” versions, what made Delteil to conclude that there were twenty-eight impressions in total. Today, as far as we can assert from the literature from auctions, exhibitions and public collections, there should be only fourteen impressions still recorded, including this one, although the location of some mentioned in Delteil and in the Pissarro Atelier’s sales in 1928 remain unknown. Thus the number of impressions still in existence might be even lower. Only one copy came up on the market since 2000, an impression numbered 25.

It is worth mentioning its outstanding provenance: it came from the private collection of Jean Cailac, later bequeathed to his daughter Paule Cailac. Both were the best Pissarro experts in France. Jean was the expert for the prints at the two sales of the Pissarro’s Atelier in 1928. He also did the Supplement to the Delteil’s catalogue raisonné of Pissarro prints. Paule kept on with this expertise and increased the collection with rare examples.

1 Barbara Shapiro, “Pissarro as printmaker: some questions and answers”, in Apollo,

vol. CXXXVI, no. 369, 1992, pp. 295-96.

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11 Camille Pissarro 1830 Saint-Thomas – Paris 1903

Horizontal Landscape

Aquatint printed on thick wove paper, 1879 Annotated by the artist no.1 – 1er Etat / paysage en long / zinc Plate 115 x 398 mm Reference Delteil 17, 1st state of two Literature Barbara Shapiro, Camille Pissarro Printmaker, Boston, 1973, no. 12 Provenance Marcel Guérin, Paris (Lugt 1872b); Maurice Gobin, Paris (Lugt 1124b)

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in Pissarro, London, 1981, p. 203). The second Pissarro sale in 1929 (lots nos. 19 and 20) included an annotated proof of the second state and a so-called ‘third state’, which was not described by Delteil. The third Pissarro sale in the same year included a first state and another ‘third state’ (lot nos. 12 and 13). All are described as being of the utmost rarity by Jean Cailac who was the expert for the sales. There is a second state of the print in the British Museum, and two ‘third state’ impressions in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts and at the Art Institute of Chicago (both annotated ‘cuivre’). This so-called ‘third state’ was actually printed from a new copper plate made by electrotyping after the wax-mold of the original zinc plate. The plate was then probably altered by the artist, chiefly in the area of the nearly horizontal branch in the upper left part of the sky. The simultaneous existence of two plates is confirmed through a notebook in the Pissarro Archives at the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford which contains a Liste des Plaques sur la table dated 2 July 1919 with an entry « paysage en long I cuivre I zinc ». Moreover, on a page entitled Liste des Plaques chez M. Porcabeauf in a booklet dated 24 October 1923 the entry « Paysage en long (electro) » appears.

This is a superb first state proof in pure aquatint, an impression of one of the most famous landscapes by Camille Pissarro.

Carefully printed with plate-tone, the first state creates a highly decorative surface pattern, and reflects the delicate equilibrium that the artist was able to achieve between light and dark, and texture. As in other landscapes of that period, he created these early states primarily using a variety of aquatint tones, which were clarified in successive states by additional etched lines that delicately delineate the trees, the houses and the hill.

This wide panoramic format is unique in Pissarro’s graphic work and unknown in that of other impressionist printmakers. It is related to the series of four horizontal panels in oils commissioned

by Achille Arosa, and painted by Pissarro in 1872-73 (see Venturi 183-86). We can also assume that Pissarro was originally inspired by the landscapes woodcuts of Hiroshige, as well as by the wide format etchings by Dutch Old Masters such as Esaias, Jan van de Velde and Rembrandt.

This plate is extremely rare in lifetime impressions. As far as we can assert, we know only two 1st-sate impressions, one kept at the Boston Museum of Fine Art (ex-Degas and Maurice Le Garrec), and the present one (also mentioned by Barbara Shapiro

Of the greatest rarity, with great provenances: Marcel Guérin and Maurice Gobin in Paris.

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12 Eugène Delâtre 1864 – Paris – 1938

Gust of wind at Etretat

Etching and aquatint in grey black on laid paper, ca. 1898 Signed lower right with pencil Eugène Delâtre Plate 480 x 630 mm

Outstanding impression and a large subject, with margins.

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13 Maxime Maufra 1861 Nantes – PoncÊ-sur-le-Loir 1918

The Wave

Etching and aquatint on wove paper, 1894 Signed and annotated lower right in black chalk Maufra / Etat Plate 348 x 540 mm Reference Morane 10, undescribed intermediary state

Exceptional and very rare proof of an intermediary state, before the aquatint entirely completed. A large composition.

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PRINTS FROM

l’ Estampe originale

By Charles-Marie Houdard, Camille Martin, Charles Maurin, Paul Ranson, Armand Seguin and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec

“Published between 1893 and 1895, the nine albums of André Marty’s l’Estampe originale with their 97 prints by 74 artists offer an incredible in-depth and comprehensive view of the fin de siècle artistic concerns. While Marty and his advisor, Roger Marx, were extremely prescient in their selection of artists for the albums, their purpose behind the publication i.e., to promote original printmaking rather than reproductive prints, made it possible to present actual works of art of high quality which simultaneously function together within the limited physical format of the nine albums as an overview of the art of their time. This efficient combination of art and function makes l’Estampe originale a masterful achievement in the history of printmaking”. In Phillip Dennis Cate & Ronald de Leeuw, l’Estampe originale. Artistic printmaking in France 1893-1895, New Brunswick, 1991, preface.

album covers, the first one and – by coincidence or not – the last one. In addition, the first album contains an aquatint portrait of Lautrec by his long-time friend Charles Maurin (cat. 15). His cover design of the first year may be read as signaling the start of the actual production of prints for the albums with Jane Avril representing a modern audience. She was examining a proof just pulled on a hand-operated press by the printer Père Cotelle.

Marty and Marx were very sensible to the awakening arts and crafts movement in France. The reason why they got Roche, Charpentier. Martin and Prouvé to combine the qualities and techniques of printmaking with those of sculpture or bookbinding. They entrusted Camille Martin – one of the major figures of the School of Nancy – for the cover of the second year (cat. 19). Martin was painter by training and the imagery embellishing their bindings is very similar in content and composition to his paintings. In this marvelous image, the green-colored printing press seems to merge into the vine from which autumnal leaves, resembling sheets of paper, fall. In French, the word “feuille” means both leaf and sheet of paper.

The Martin’s cover was even recreated by René Wiener as a leather binding for his portfolio of prints.

Marty’s aim, according to Roger Marx, was to “bring together recognized masters with bold creators, neglected and blasphemed”. This allowed a balance of older, more established artists with younger, emerging and the other Nabis and PontAvis. The major avant-garde was Toulouse-Lautrec in our selection, the rest of it, Houdard, Martin, Maurin, Ranson and Armand Seguin, were still emerging artists in the early 1890’s.

Japanese art had been an important influence on French art since the mid-1850’s with Bracquemond’s introduction of Hokusai’s albums to his peers. Again Marty and overall Marx were fervent supporter of this. Here Houdard’s Grenouilles (cat. 18), based on Hokusai, and Ranson’s Tigre dans les jungles (cat. 16) are clearly derivative or imitative of Japanese art. Outstanding and rare.

Toulouse-Lautrec opened the first album in 1893 with a splendid cover, as manifesto for printmaking (cat. 14). It has the bold, decorative qualities essential to the impact of his posters. From the beginning to the end, he had a major role in it, like if he was the spokesman of the publication. He designed two of the three

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14 Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec 1864 Albi – Saint-André-du-Bois 1901

The Lithography Cover for l’Estampe originale, for the 1st year

Eight-colors lithograph on wove paper, 1892 Signed and numbered central left with pencil HTLautrec / No. 10 Blind-stamped lower right of l’Estampe originale (Lugt 819) Stone 565 x 638 mm Reference Delteil 17; Stein & Karshan 84; Boyer and Cate 84, Wittrock 3, only state

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15 Charles Maurin 1856 Le-Puy-en-Velais – Grasse 1914

Portrait of Toulouse-Lautrec

Etching and aquatint printed in dark brown ink on wove paper, 1893 Signed and numbered lower right No 10 / Maurin Blind-stamped lower right of l’Estampe originale (Lugt 819) Plate 225 x 137 mm Reference Stein & Karshan 46; Boyer & Cate 46; Fréchuret 657 Literature Gille Grandjean and Maurice Fréchuret, Charles Maurin : un symboliste du réel, Le Puy-en-Velay, 2006, no. 36

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16 Paul Elie Ranson 1864 Limoges – Paris 1909

Tiger in the Jungle

Three-colors lithograph on wove paper, 1893

Signed lower left with pencil P. Ranson and numbered lower right no 10

Blind-stamped lower right of l’Estampe originale (Lugt 819)

Stone 368 x 283 mm

Reference Stein & Karshan 62; Boyer & Cate 62 Literature Brigitte Ranson Bikter and Gilles Genty, Paul Ranson 1861-1909, Catalogue raisonné Japonisme, Symbolisme, Art Nouveau, Paris, 1999, p. 139, no. 113 (ill.)

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17 Armand Seguin 1869 Paris – Châteauneuf-du-Faou 1903

Evening

Etching and aquatint in brown ink on laid paper, 1894 Signed and numbered lower left with pencil n / 22 / a Seguin Blind-stamped lower right of l’Estampe originale (Lugt 819) Plate 230 x 227 mm Reference Stein & Karshan 79; Boyer & Cate 79; Field 68

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18 Charles-Louis Houdard Born in Neuilly-sur-Seine, active in Paris 1892 – 1914

Frogs

Etching and aquatint on wove paper, 1894 Numbered and signed lower right with pencil No.22 / Ch. Houdard Blind-stamped lower right of l’Estampe originale (Lugt 819) Plate 262 x 395 mm Reference Inventaire du fonds français 3-2; Stein & Karshan 36; Boyer & Cate 36; Lugt 819 Literature Phillip Dennis Cate and Marianne Grivel, From Pissarro to Picasso, Color Etching in France, Paris, 1992, p. 187

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19 Camille Martin 1861 – Nancy – 1898

Autumn Cover for l’Estampe originale, 2nd year

Five-colors lithograph on simili-Japan paper, 1894 Signed and numbered lower right with pencil Camille Martin 22 Blind-stamped lower right of l’Estampe originale (Lugt 819) Stone 560 x 894 mm Reference Stein & Karshan 44; Boyer & Cate 44

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20 James Ensor 1860 – Ostend – 1949

The Vengeance of Hop-Frog

Etching with drypoint on very thin Japan pelure paper, 1898 Titled and dedicated lower left with pencil La vengeance de Hop Frog / Pour Madame Steyns / pour ses yeux d’agrément / ses pommettes roses et d’api / et son esprit charmant et de Gand, JEnsor, signed and dated lower right in pencil James Ensor 1898

Plate 350 x 242 mm

Reference Taevernier 112, 2nd (final) state

This is a very fine impression of one of the most famous plates by James Ensor, after Edgar Poe. It is printed on a very thin Japan paper, most probably used early. In the first years, Ensor liked to try proofs and impressions on various laid and Japan papers.

As he used to, the dedication might be later than the printing time.

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21 Théo van Hoytema 1863 – The Hague – 1917

Five angora Rabbits

Lithograph with embossing printed on Chine appliqué on wove paper, 1898 Signed lower right in pencil Th van Hoytema Stone 417 x 325 mm Reference Rijksmuseum/de Groot 86, 2nd (final) state, unknown edition Literature The Hague, Gemeentemuseum, Theo van Hoytema 1863-1917, 1999, no. 37, pp. 39-40 (cover and ill.)

Provenance Private collection, The Netherlands

An iconic image of the 19th c. Dutch printmaking. This remarkable impression, with wide margins, has been signed in pencil by the artist, which is exceptionally rare. The normal edition is part of the portfolio Dierstudies (Animal Studies).

Fascinated by the depiction of wildlife, van Hoytema spent time at the Rijksmuseum van Natuurlijke Historie in Leiden to paint stuffed animals. In 1889-90, he started using lithography and became a popular illustrator, later known for his famous calendars. Théo van Hoytema did not belonged to any specific groups or movements but contributed to the development of Dutch graphic Art towards Art Nouveau.

In 1898, van Hoytema worked on large compositions and experienced new lithographic techniques such as the Japanese

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blind printing. Five angora Rabbits shows beautiful embossed surface creating effects of texture in the rabbits’ fur. The influence of Japanese wood prints on van Hoytema’s art is clearly visible in this print: first there is the combination of naturalism and stylization to depict the animals; secondly, the intense contrast between the black background and the white compact group of rabbits.

In fine condition. The embossed surface is exceptionally well preserved.

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Index of artist names Andreani, Andrea Besnard, Albert Bresdin, Rodolphe Cogniet, Léon Delâtre, Eugène Ensor, James Goltzius, Hendrick Houdard, Charles-Marie Lepic, Ludovic Napoléon Martin, Camille Maufra, Maxime Maurin, Charles Morin, Jean Pissarro, Camille Ranson, Paul Seguin, Armand Tiepolo, Giovanni Domenico Toulouse-Lautrec, Henri de van Hoytema, Théo

CATALOGUE ENTRIES

Eric Gillis Noémie Goldman PRINTED BY

Impressor Pauwels Sprl., in Brussels in May 2016 ENGLISH TRANSLATION/CORRECTION

Jean-Marie Gillis SCAN & PHOTOGRAVURE

Olivier Dengis, Mistral Bvba Special thanks (by alphabetical order) to Antoine Cahen, Bernard Derroitte, Patrick Florizoone, Audrey Hulsmans, Melissa Hughes, Dominique Le Jeune, Ingrid Lescot, Corinne Letessier, Jawad Maher, Didier Martinez, Mathieu Néouze, Marie-Astrid Neulens, Diane Stordiau.

© Eric Gillis Fine Art – June 2016

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ERIC GILLIS FINE ART T +32 2 503 14 64 W www.eg-fineart.com M info@eg-fineart.com 14, rue aux laines 1000 Brussels | Belgium