Fernand Léger (1881-1955) - Aquarelle

Fernand Léger - Original Gouache Stencil, 1929

Printed by Daniel Jacomet

Edition of 1500

Perfect condition

Sheet 21 x 27 cm

Stencil 15 x 18 cm

In 1929, the stencil was an extremely meticulous crafts-art process, mainly used for fashion and luxury Art Deco publishing.

The work relies on manually coloring a sheet on which the outlines have been previously printed. Artisans cut brass, zinc, or cellulose sheets with scalpels — one plate for each shade, sometimes requiring up to 80 stencils for a single image. Using round brushes, sponges, or cotton, colorists apply gouache.

This method offers a unique result: solid blocks of pure color, a matte surface with perceptible relief, and gradients impossible to reproduce with mechanical printing. Long and costly, the technique gradually faded at the beginning of the 1930s as industrial printing processes developed.