1897 ALEXANDRE CHARPENTIER (1856-1909) "MERMAID" EMBOSSED DESSIN GAUFFRE

Description: "MERMAID" Embossed design. Original. 1897. By ALEXANDRE-LOUIS-MARIE CHARPENTIER (French, 1856-1909) Signed (embossed) in full at bottom left, and with Charpentier's encircled embossed monogram bottom right corner. Blindstamp of "The Studio" below the image, bottom right. Commissioned by "The Studio" and published bound in as a Special Supplement to "The Studio" magazine in 1897 with its blindstamp at bottom right edge. Reputedly produced in France then shipped to "The Studio" in London where the blindstamp was added. The inscribed tissue-guard is included in the sale, just to further validate the item. Size of the image area is 13 x 8.6 centimetres; sheet area is approx. 28 x 20 centimetres. Off-white central image impressed on thick buff-coloured wove art paper, blank to reverse. It qualifies as a "print" because obviously it is presented in printed form - but no ink was used in the process. A very unusual item, innovative in its artistic design and in the way it is presented. Condition is very good - no issues at all. Nice, sharp image. Difficult to photograph. Be sure to see my angled and reverse photo so you can see how deep the impression is. You can really feel the texture when you hold it. A scarce and very unusual item - which is why leading museums have it! REFERENCE: Metropolitan Museum of Art, no. 60.708.29 Primarily a sculptor of medals, Charpentier used embossing techniques to lend three-dimensionality to this creation. Charpentier was aware of Japanese woodcuts circulating in Paris during the late 19th century, which provided a precedent for using embossing to create pattern and a three-dimensional effect on a flat sheet of paper. The areas in relief add texture to the head and torso of the mermaid, as well as to the sea which surrounds her. . BIOGRAPHY: Alexandre Charpentier was born in a working-class Parisian neighborhood and raised amid the turmoil of the Franco-Prussian War. At the age of twelve, he was apprenticed to a decorative engraver, a path that led him to the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, where he studied as a designer and engraver of medals in the early 1870s. Charpentier's ambition was to become a sculptor, but his incomplete elementary education prevented him from fulfilling the Ecole's rigorous requirements for that course of study. He abandoned the school before finishing his training as a medalist. His departure from the academy left him unencumbered by tradition and free to experiment with novel formats, styles, and subjects, working in a remarkable range of materials. Though he exhibited regularly at the official Salon and other well-established venues, he also participated in avant-garde circles in Brussels, Vienna, and Paris. Moreover, he was a noted figure in the radical, vernacular Parisian theater for which he designed playbills and sketched the leading actors and critics in clay. In the early 1890s, Charpentier began making decorative objects and furniture. His studio in Paris became the focus of L'Art dans Tout (Art in Everything)--a group of designers, artists, artisans, and architects who collaborated on interior furnishings that they hoped would adorn not only the luxurious villas of their patrons, but also the public housing of the working class.In the early 1890s, Charpentier began making decorative objects and furniture. His studio in Paris became the focus of L'Art dans Tout (Art in Everything)--a group of designers, artists, artisans, and architects who collaborated on interior furnishings that they hoped would adorn not only the luxurious villas of their patrons, but also the public housing of the working class. "The Studio" magazine was a lavishly produced and prestigious showcase for artists in the 1890's to promote their graphic work, they would submit their drawings etc. to be lithographed in the ground-breaking style of "The Studio"s accomplished lithographers such as Thomas Robert Way and William Griggs. Artists of the calibre of Beardsley, Whistler, Waterhouse, Pennell, Vallotton, Knopff etc. etc. used it as a medium for bringing their work to an informed readership. The editors would also commission works from artists, meaning that they would not be published anywhere else. The print run of the magazine was about 3,000, and subscribers included many institutions and galleries both in the UK and further afield. Under the editorship of Charles Holme, it always tried to keep a balance between the work of established artists and new emerging talent, and to promote the "avant-garde" . ALL MY ITEMS ARE SHIPPED BOTH IN UK AND FOR WORLDWIDE BY TRACKED ROYAL MAIL SERVICE, FOR EVERYBODY'S PEACE OF MIND. I COMBINE SHIPPING FOR MORE THAN 1 ITEM IF THERE'S ANY OTHER OF MY ITEMS THAT YOU LIKE.

Price: 90 GBP

Location: Wadhurst

End Time: 2024-12-18T18:05:40.000Z

Shipping Cost: 15.25 GBP