Pierre Antoine Gallien, peintre a la ligne noir

Pierre Antoine Gallien

(Grenoble 1896-1963 Mont Rouge)

French modernist woodcut artist.

"painter of the black line" 

Over the years I had filed several pictures of examples by this artist that I've saved from auction sites, catalogues etc. Recently stumbling over another I decided to swipe them together and create this posting. 

Woodcut portraits by Pierre Antoine Gallien and self-portrait by Fujita.

There's not much about the life of Pierre Antoine Gallien to be found in the Internet but according to the portraits he cut in wood there's a good chance he learned the art of woodblock printmaking from the Japanese artist Fujita (Léonard Tsugouharu Foujita (藤田 嗣治, Fujita Tsuguharu, November 27, 1886 – January 29, 1968). Read here about this extraordinary artist *).  

However, Gallien's many portraits of contemporary French artists places him right in the wild modernist and avant-garde circles in Paris-Montparnasse after the Great War in the roaring twenties. 

"British avant garde artist Nina Hamnett (1890-1965) taking a bath", by Fujita.

(read here* about this most interesting woman artist and Bohemien)

 Gallien's portrait of French composer Alberic Magnard (1865-1914) and painter Henri Matisse (1969-1954)

and painter printmaker Henri de Waroquier (1881-1970) who created this wonderful still-life color woodcut in 1909.

Among them were painter Amadeo Modigliani (1884-1920) and his many mistresses and muzes, sculptor Constantin Brancusi (1976-1957), Pablo Picasso (1881-1973), avant-garde photographer Mann Ray (1980-1976) and Kiki de Montparnasse (1901-1953), André Derain, Maurice Utrillo, Wassily Kandinsky, Frantisek Kupka, Henri Matisse and many others in the steaming Bohemien world that was Montparnasse in the 1920's.

Montparnasse in 1922, the café's, bars and studio's, where life began after sunset and the nights never ended, as seen and cut in wood by Gallien.

Gallien had been a student of the "Ecole des Beaux-Arts, des Arts décoratifs et du Louvre" in Paris and was appointed professor of drawing, probably in Paris. 

These lovely illustrations, from a limited poetry edition "Du pain et des Roses" (Bread and Roses) by Marius Noguès (1919-2012) in 1947

for me symbolizing the warmth, joy and freedom of midsummer and reminding me of the merry novel of Pallieter and a hot summers day by Flemish writer Felix Timmermans (1886-1947) about the simpleton Pallieter and the love of his life Marieke (read here*).

All pictures are mouse-clickable to embiggen

&    

All pictures borrowed freely from the internet for friendly, educational and non commercial use only.

  

Henri Guerard, French pioneer printmaker

Henri-Charles Guérard

(1846-1897)

French painter etcher and printmaker.

As a result of my on going interest in prints and printmakers this French artist emerged from the past and I hope sharing my personal research laced with a choice of  Guérards work will be of interest to readers of this Blog.

Le Palais de Justice, vu du Pont Notre-Dame (1889) edition of 6 prints by August Leperè dedicated to his friend Guérard.

Henri Guerard was born three years before August Lepère (1849-1918), considered the godfather of French and possibly European Modern Printmakers. They were of course acquainted Lepère encouraging Guérard to create prints the new way. (Read here*)

And Guérard became befriended with Éduard Manet (1832-1883) who’s pupil (Manet’s only one), impressionist model and painter Eva Gonzalès (1849-1883) he would marry in 1879. The couple moved to Honfleur in Brittany meeting many of the impressionist painters and etchers. 

I always assumed (dangerous !) the Paris World Exhibition of 1889 was the start of rising interest and influence in and popularity of Japanese printmaking in Europe. 

In 1890 the Ecole des Beaux Arts held an exhibition leaving Felix Valloton (1865-1925) involved in Japonism. His cygnes (swans) a very popular item in the 1890’s and 1910’s dating from 1892 and in next posting I intend hurdling them all together. Guérards swans, below, dated a few years later: 1895.

But well before 1890 I learned Leon Gonse (1846-1921), art historian and director of la Gazette des Beaux Arts, organized exhibitions on Japan art and in 1883 published his most important and influential 2 volume book “ L’Art Japonais” (edition of 1400) and illustrated by his friend Guérard.

Manet considered Guérard the best French aquatint etcher of his time. With Felix Bracquemond (1833-1914) Guérard founded the Societé des Peintres Graveurs in 1890. 

Portraits of Éduard Manet, Whistler and 
Whistler's mother (after the painting) 

Guérard died young dating all his known work before 1897, about the year the first  British, Austrian and German examples were conceived by printmakers like Frank Morley Fletcher (who had studied in Paris), Otto Eckmann, Emil Orlik and of course many others. 

Honfleur harbour.

 

It is from 1905 onwards a steadily growing stream of prints by a growing number of artists influenced by and/or printing in "the Japanese way' can be traced but in that last decade of the 19^th century there obviously was much more going on in this field then I’d imagined before.

 Tiger head and print of a monkey's hand 

Eva Gonzalès died from an embolism giving birth to their sun Jean, six days after her teacher and friend Manet passed away. This lovely painting “le Chignon” (the Bun) is by her. Guérard married her sister Jeanne a few years later. Left little Jean Guérard's portrait  by his father.

Guérard with Jean Francois Raffaelli (1850-1924) are considered the pioneers of aquatint etching. 

Etching by Guérard of Hokusai's chess players

With Lepère, Guérard preceded and stood at the very beginning of the first “generation” of French Modern Printmakers: Felix Valloton, Henri Rivière (1864-1951), Jacques Beltrand (1874-1977), Amadee Joyau (1873-1913), Jules Chadel (1870-1942), Henri Amedee-Wetter (1869-1929 and Prosper Alphonse Isaac (1858-1924)

Guérard at work. 

Read here* and here* in "Adventures in the print trade" on Lepère, Raffaelli and Guérard.

All pictures borrowed freely from the Internet for friendly, educational and non commercial use only. 

 

Susanna and the Elders and some Nabis painters

Susanna and the Elders and the Nabis painters

Waiting for my request to Paris sending me a colour picture of this archived painting of Susanna and the Elders by Roland Marie Gérardin (1907-1935) shown in recent posting I today decided sharing some thematically related great paintings I’ve recently found and I really came to like. 

Susanna by Paul Ranson (1864-1909) and Paul Sérusier (1864-1927)

Just picture-Google Paul Ranson and enter a wonder world of color almost like entering into a dream or hallucination.

  
Ultimately these paintings all leading back to Paul Sérusier’s famous little painting “Talisman”. This little work, below, was to change the course of the world of painting and is said to have been painted on the back of a cigar box.

Colleague, friend and also Nabis convert ("prophet") Pierre Bonnard (1867-1947) did his best capturing the bright light in "Mimosa" according to the new theories.

  
After bringing "Talisman" back from Brittany, where Sérusier had met and worked with Paul Gauguin (1848-1903), to Paris and the Académie Julian this little marvel would upset the artistic world far beyond the mere 27 x 21 = 57 square cm. it measures. It is now in the Musee D'Orsay in Paris.

Paul Gauguin and Paul Serusier

Painting without depth (perspective) and simplifying the composition to arrangements and areas of colour it was a sensation and a true revolution. Many of these compositions could well have been designed as prints. 

Paul Ranson (1864-1909)

The group of followers naming themselves the Nabis, decided painting after Gauguins ideas of composition and colour while he later decided to continue his exotic life in the South seas. Among the groupmembers were also Maurice Denis (1870-1943) and  painter sculptor Aristide Maillol (1861-1944). 

Brittany according to Gauguin and Maurice Denis.

Painting like printmakers only Felix Valloton (1865-1925) actually produced many woodblock prints. Revolution started in Pont Aven, Brittany, France.  

His landscape paintings (above) could easily have been designed by a British or Scottish woodblock printmaker like Ian Cheyne (1895-1955) (right) and although all his prints are in black and white, Valloton basically is regarded as one of the pioneers and pivotal figures in Modern Printmaking.

Closing this Susanna posting with three more selected and more or less contemporary paintings: Susanna by influential German painter and Berlin professor Lovis Corinth (1858-1925) who, it was said, could paint a Saint just as well as a Whore and by symbolist painter Franz (von) Stuck (1863-1928). 

The last one (of this choice and selection) is by American Thomas Hart Benton (1884-1978)

All pictures are mouse clickable to embiggen and are borrowed freely from the Internet for friendly, educational and non commercial use only.