Luc-Olivier Merson, Salomé, 1898, Original Lithograph

Details

Description

Luc-Olivier Merson (1846-1920)

Salomè

Original Lithograph from the glorious portfolio "L'Estampe Moderne", issue #20 (December 1898)

On wove paper

Year: … Read more Luc-Olivier Merson (1846-1920)

Salomè

Original Lithograph from the glorious portfolio "L'Estampe Moderne", issue #20 (December 1898)

On wove paper

Year: 1898

Size (sheet): 405 x 305 mm
Size (image): 347 x 192 mm

Signed in the plate, top right

Blind stamp of the publisher, bottom right, out of the image

Excellent condition: minor signs of age
Great colours
Full margins (not cropped, not trimmed)

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About the Collection (L'Estampe Moderne)

L'Estampe Moderne appeared in 1897-1899 as a series of 24 monthly fascicles, each containing 4 original lithographs, printed by Parisian Imprimerie Champenois. Many accomplished European Art Nouveau painters contributed works to this publication, which contained only Original prints invented and produced especially for this collection. The publication was edited by Charles Masson and H. Piazza. Each issue came in a paper cover bearing an original lithograph by Alphonse Mucha.
Each lithograph was accompanied by a tissue containing the details (title of the artwork, name of the artist, etc.) and a short text by a well-known author who inspired the artist (this one being by Gustave Flaubert).
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About the artist

Luc-Olivier Merson (1846 - 1920) was a French academic painter and illustrator. He was also known for his postage stamp and currency designs.

He grew up in an artistic household, the son of Charles-Olivier Merson, a painter and art critic. He studied under Gustave Chassevent at the École de Dessin and then Isidore Pils at the École des Beaux-Arts. Merson had his first work exhibited at the Paris Salon in 1866 and three years later was awarded the Prix de Rome. During the five years spent working in Italy, he concentrated on religious and historical subjects for his art.[citation needed]

Back in France, in 1875 he won the first-prize medal at the exhibition by the Société des artistes français. Notre-Dame de Paris, one of Merson's best-known paintings, was created in 1881 as a result of the huge popularity of the Victor Hugo novel of the same name. with its mystical Gothic imagery, its style reflects the influence of the then evolving Symbolist movement.
Merson did major decorative commissions for such institutions as the Palais de Justice, the Louis Pasteur Museum, and the mosaic in the chancel vault in the Basilica of the Sacré Cœur. He also did the artwork for stained-glass windows, an example of which can be found in the Church of the Holy Trinity Rittenhouse Square in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His profile was raised considerably after being awarded a gold medal for his painting at the 1889 Exposition Universelle, and in 1892 he was elected to the Académie des beaux-arts.[citation needed]

Merson was one of the first artists to buy photographs from Eugène Atget.

The "Type Merson" design of 1900 was still being used in 1927 for the French post offices in Egypt; Merson's name is barely visible in the lower left of the frame.
By 1900 Merson was designing postage stamps for the French post and the Monaco post. He was teaching at the Académie Vitti in 1903. By 1908 he had been contracted by the Bank of France to create a number of designs for some of the country's banknotes.
Between 1906 and 1911 he taught at the École des Beaux-Arts, with students such as Clément Serveau, who would also eventually design stamps and banknotes himself. Other students of his included painter Henri Alphonse Barnoin, and American painter Helen Savier DuMond.

In recognition of his contribution to French culture, Merson was awarded the Legion of Honor.

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from the text on the tissue paper, from the Herodias by Gustave Flaubert:

Ses lèvres étaient peintes, ses sourcils très noirs, ses yeux presque terribles, et des gouttelettes à son front semblaient une vapeur sur du marbre blanc.
Elle ne parlait pas. Ils se regardaient.
Un claquement de doigt se fit dans la tribune.
Elle y monta, reparut; et, zézayant un peu, prononça ces mots, d'un air enfantin :
«Je veux que tu me donnes, dans un plat, la tête\.\.» Elle avait oublié le nom, mais reprit en souriant: «La tête de laokanann!»
Le Pétrarque s'affaissa sur lui-même, écrasé.
Tout à coup, un bruit de pas se répercuta dans les couloirs. Le malaise devenait intolérable.
La tête entra; — et Mannaeï la tenait par les cheveux, au bout de son bras, fier des applaudissements
Quand il l'eut mise sur un plat, il l'offrit à Salomé.

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Important:

. The listing is for the original print, in the above mentioned very good / excellent condition.
. The original tissue paper introduction has some folds and tears, especially along the margins, and it will be given as is to the buyer as a gift for confirming the authenticity.
. The cover by Mucha is shown as a reference This piece has an attribution mark,
I am sure that it is completely authentic and take full responsibility for any authenticity
issues arising from misattribution See less