Charles Guérin, Sirène, 1899, Original Lithograph

Details

Description

Charles Guérin (1875 - 1939)

Sirène
(Mermaid)

Original Lithograph from the glorious portfolio "L'Estampe Moderne", issue #21 (January 1899)

On … Read more Charles Guérin (1875 - 1939)

Sirène
(Mermaid)

Original Lithograph from the glorious portfolio "L'Estampe Moderne", issue #21 (January 1899)

On wove paper

Year: 1899

Size (sheet): 405 x 305 mm
Size (image): 283 x 238 mm

Signed in the plate, bottom left (monogram)

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)

Same print in:
The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, inventory: 2014.695.ii

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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 Henri de Régnier).
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About the artist

Charles-François-Prosper Guérin (1875 – 1939) was a French Post-Impressionist painter.

He studied with Gustave Moreau in the l'École des Beaux Arts à Paris, and had one exhibition at the Grafton Galleries in 1910; in a review Huntly Carter wrote of his "daring extravagance" and that he "show[ed] how the strongest primary colours can be used without crudity, and whose work has a decorative value which the average muddy and colourless work of our day does not possess".

Guérin attained some historic notoriety for sitting on the jury of the Salon d'Automne of 1908, which rejected almost all of the paintings of Georges Braque. The other jury members were Henri Matisse, Georges Rouault, and Albert Marquet, all of whom had also been students of Moreau. The jury's action caused Braque—who had been a great success the year before—to withdraw completely from the Salon. Braque subsequently entered into an exclusive contract with the dealer Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler requiring him (and Picasso) to avoid salons, during which time Braque and Picasso developed cubism.

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from the text on the tissue paper, by Henri de Régnier:

Il y a des Sirènes qui chantent et peignent
Leurs cheveux d’algues et qui sont nues ;
Les trois plus belles sont venues
Nager autour de la carène,
On les a vues ;
C’était sur des mers lointaines\.\.
Elles ne sont pas revenues
Mais parfois je crois les entendre
Qui rient et chantent
Et qui reviennent,
Quand le flot est calme et le ciel clair,
Car moi je sais toute la Mer !
Elles ont des cheveux d’algues et des lèvres
Peintes selon la pourpre des coraux
Une parfois rit et élève
Ses seins de femme au-dessus de l’eau,
Et tend les bras…
Ou dit qu’elles n’existent pas
Ou que leurs torses vils se terminent en queues
D’écailles que le flot fait bleues,
Tandis que leur chevelure semble de l’or,
Au soleil ; on prétend encor
Qu’elle sont méchantes, et que
Leur mystérieux rire endort
En les grottes roses et noires
Avec elles, joue contre joue,
À jamais…
Qu’il est mieux de ne pas y croire
Et de les fuir les yeux fermés,
Et qu’il faut clouer à la proue
Leurs figures d’émail et d’or,
En simulacres à la proue !

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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