Roger de la Fresnaye (1885-1925) - Nu genouillé

lithographic printing with gouache highlights applied by hand through a stencil (Pochoir). Edition of the portfolio "Dessins et gouaches (1919-1925)", published by Librairie de France (Paris, 1927) and printed by Imprimerie Sainte-Catherine (Bruges, Belgium).

Work: Nu genouillé.

Measurements (without frame): 25.5 cm x 15 x 5 cm

This is the famous luxury art folder titled:
Dessins et gouaches (1919-1925) by Roger de La Fresnaye.

Editor in Paris: Librairie de France, Paris (1927).
Printing Workshop (Bruges): Imprimerie Sainte-Catherine S.A., Bruges (Belgium).

Limited edition: Very small edition of 300 unnumbered copies.

Historical Context
After the premature death of Roger de La Fresnaye in 1925, Librairie de France commissioned this luxurious commemorative publication in Paris to document and honor the final period (1919–1925) of his work. To achieve the greatest possible aesthetic fidelity, the edition of the prints was sent to be printed at the renowned Imprimerie Sainte-Catherine in Bruges.

The Technique Used: Lithography and Pochoir (Water-Sbased stencil)
These 1927 impressions are not common commercial offset or photomechanical reproductions, but art prints in a traditional mixed graphic technique of the period:
Base Lithographic: The outline, charcoal/ink drawings and the main black lines were printed by photographic lithography or fine lithography to reproduce exactly the artist's stroke.
Manual application with Pochoir (Stencil and Gouache):
The key to why the white gouache has real substance, thickness and brushstroke is due to the pochoir technique.
A colorist craftsman applied the gouache/tempera in color or white directly by hand onto the paper using metal or brass stencils cut and short-hair brushes.
This endows each plate with real pigment, opaque and with a physical relief that easily fools the eye and is mistaken for a work originally painted by hand.

Roger de La Fresnaye (Le Mans, 1885 – Grasse, 1925)
French painter and draftsman, a prominent exponent of the Cubist movement and the School of Paris. Trained at the Académie Julian and the Académie Ranson, he was closely linked to the famous Puteaux / Section d'Or group alongside Robert Delaunay, Fernand Léger and the Duchamp brothers.
From 1920, due to health problems after serving in World War I, he withdrew to the south of France (Grasse), beginning his acclaimed classical/neoclassical period. In this period (1920–1925), La Fresnaye executed a celebrated series of anatomical drawings and lyrical nudes drawn with pen and ink on ochre paper with white highlights, characterized by strong linearity and formal purity that define this work. His pieces are part of the permanent collections of the Centre Pompidou (Paris), the MoMA (New York) and the Tate Gallery (London).