detouche - DANS LES RONCES henri detouche - 1900s

"In the Thorns" - Original lithograph on Japan paper - L'Estampe Moderne
Henry DETOUCHE
Edited by Imprimerie Champenois for CH. Masson H. Piazza, 1898
On the right side, missing paper trimming, very rare to find with its original descriptive sheet.

Champenois printing for CH. Masson H. Piazza | Paris (April 1898) | 24.50 x 35 cm | one sheet and one serpente | Rare original lithograph printed in colors, executed by Henry Detouche for L'Estampe Moderne, series number 12 published in April 1898. One of 50 luxury proofs printed on Japan paper with wide margins, artist's signature on the sheet, blind stamp of the publisher depicting a child's profile in the lower margin, numbered stamp of the luxury edition on the back, slight trace of the previous engraving's stamp on the front; the engraving is preceded by a serpente captioned with the artist's name, the title, and a text by the artist; the serpente is blank. Magnificent French monthly publication issued between May 1897 and April 1899, L'Estampe Moderne consists of unpublished chromolithographs which, unlike other reviews such as Les Maîtres de l'Affiche and as stated on the serpentes, were specially created by each artist for the magazine. A total of 100 prints were published, covering major artistic movements of the late 19th century: Symbolism, Art Nouveau, Pre-Raphaelites, Orientalists, and Belle Époque. Each issue of four prints was limited to 2000 copies sold at 3.50F and 100 on Japan paper offered at 10F. Henri Piazza also planned a very exclusive limited edition: 50 copies on Japan paper with wide margins and 50 in black on China paper at a considerable price of 30F. This print, of a beautiful format, is superbly printed on the most prestigious paper: Japan. Thick, silky, satin, and nacreous, it helps make each page a work in its own right. Its ink absorption quality and affinity with colors also make it the ideal medium for these beautiful lithographs. French collectors' interest in artistic posters grew in the early 1890s. Octave Uzanne, to describe this fever, coined the term 'affichomanie.' The poster, originally popular and pasted in the streets of the capital, then became an art object, and its ephemeral support became precious and meant for preservation. Piazza decided to detach the poster from its advertising purpose and elevate it to the rank of a full-fledged work of art, just like the luxury illustrated book. He thus assembled a prestigious collection of entirely original works by the most prominent European artists of the moment: Georges de Feure, Eugène Grasset, Henri Detouche, Emile Berchmans, Louis Rhead, Gaston de Latenay, Lucien Lévy-Dhurmer, Gustave-Max Stevens, Charles Doudelet, Hans Christiansen, Henri Fantin-Latour, Steinlen, Ibels, Engels, Willette, Henri Meunier, Evenep.