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. 

 

Abe Gerlsma: etcher of Friesland

Abe Gerlsma

(1919 - 2012)

Dutch painter and graphic artist. 

Technician and inventor of mechanical agricultural devices.

Neils’ latest posting revealing Jean Francois Rafaelli and his world in “Adventures in the print trade” is the immediate reason for this posting. It creates the opportunity pointing towards his great and very informative Blog and showing a recent find and acquisition (above "Winter in waterland") by a charming and sensitive artist who, I’m sure, most of my readers have never encountered.

Here’s a selection, examples of his oblong printed etchings often 13 x 42 cm (2:7), showing my direct environment, graced as I am living in the most beautiful province of Friesland in the Netherlands. 

Gerlsma is an artist always aware and never tired of the changing light over his native and beloved Friesland. Besides his straight forward etchings Gerlsma also expertimented in aquatint resulting in soft toned and even more delicate and atmospheric landscapes. He needn't travel far from home for inspiration.  

He was creative until 2000, leaving some 180 works and was awarded an exhibition last year in 2012. Even the The Kochi Museum in Japan bought a print for its collections.

As an encore two of my favorite aquatint etchings. All pictures are mouse-clickable to embiggen.  

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

Recommended !

Recommended !

A must have book, a catalogue of the current German Exhibition "Wege zu Gabriëlle Münter und Käthe Kollwitz" (ways to G.M. and K.K.) in Reutlingen Germany. A fine hardback, 160 pages of text, artist biographies and great never before seen woodblock prints (many in color). At 24€ + 4€ postage to an address in Europe. Follow the link to the Museum shop: here* 

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And to remind you of this maybe last opportunity to obtain these 3 books I recommended before, last year (read here*). Now at bargain prices, heavily subsidized and send without any problem from the Schloss Moyland Museum. 

"Rembrandt and the English painter-etchers" a 100€ book, bilingual, for an incredible 10€ ! A huge and fine 450 pages great quality coffee table book. 

If you have any trouble with the German sites I'll be happy to help you ordering these great books. 

Alexander Drobik

Alexander Drobik

(1890 - 1968)

Polish-Austrain painter and woodblock printmaker.

Besides an auction site Ebay also works as a flood line, washing ashore from time to time great and before unknown works of art. By often obscured and forgotten artists. For the curious like myself an irresistible invitation sometimes to investigate further.

This surprising and great woodblock print showing probably a Russian prisoner of War camp is, according to the seller, by Drobiks hand and turned up recently (it's still there). The attribution probably by the signature but illegible in the photograph. Ploughing the internet with high hopes finding more examples of prints by this artist was not successful. 

All I could find was a handful of (auctioned) oil paintings, all with wintery mountains. Very nice paintings but would I like to find more prints……..

Alexander Drobik was born in Teschen (Tēsín) in Silesia. In a melting pot region that was the south of Poland, the Austrian-Hungarian kingdom, adjacent to the Czech Republik, Germany and Austria and died in Salzburg in 1968.

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

Han Mulder

Johanna (Anna, Han) Mulder

(b. the Hague, 1935 - )

Dutch graphic artist.

Recently I was given this print as a present by my old friend Bauke "that was more befitting to my rather then his collection". And do I love it.  

There's absolutely nothing I can find other then the artist's birthday and place (the Hague, 16th oktober 1935) and her involvement with Dutch artist Gaby Bovelander (b.1931) and that she may have lived (and worked ?) in Apeldoorn and/or Arnhem in the late 1960's. That's all. 

There're two things that makes it both charming and interesting: A) The goat itself, immediately reminding of the most famous of all Dutch "poor men's cows" of them all. By short lived but brilliant painter and printmaker Jan Mankes (1889-1920). He did both a painting and a woodblock print of his goat. And Arie Zonneveld  (1905-1941) did a great lam.

I have no intention try showing all goats on prints here. But there's a tradition of goats on prints from Nicholas Berchem (1620-1683) to William Nicholson (1872-1949)

And only recently I discovered the wonderful animal world of Kurt Meyer-Eberhard (1895-1977). 

Who, I learned, happened to be a student of Walter Klemm (1883-1857). He preferred a lifelong private career as an etcher of animals over a professorate.

And I stumbled over this most charming Dutch "one off" by Gra (Gerharda Johanna Wilhelmina) Rueb (1885-1972). She did only one in this medium and I think she was familiar with the works of Samuel Jesserun de Mesquita, Mr. Artis Zoo, whom I presented earlier in this Blog. 
     

And there's B) the second feature of this little print. It's the brilliant and clever positioning of the outline or suggestion of buildings at the upper most margins of the composition thus creating a "dramatic" change in perspective and great suggestion of depth. With just a bit of gray paint. I've seen it applied in several other works, like this woodcut by Rudolf Treumann (1873-1981) above.

But applied most spectacularly I remembered it in this great print "the timber Crane" by Australian Ethel Spowers (1890-1947). It's that little triangle of light , the few centimeters of roof tops in the upper right corner that changes the way the brain digests what the eyes began exploring. Glancing over the scene from lower left upwards. Because the black mass and direction of the crane's boom are working as an forceful invitation to "start over here". Enhancing a feeling of enormity even more dramatically as the already chosen very low viewpoint not "allowing" the whole crane in the composition: there's no need to show the whole of the huge crane because of this great "trick". A truly spectacular work.  

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I've seen it also in a prints of River Seine in Paris but wasn't able to dig them up from my pictures archive because I didn't label them accurately enough as such. When I find them I will, but maybe there'll be help from readers who know more examples. 

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

   

Henriette Hahn-Brinckmann, I wonder ...

Henriette Christine Hahn-Brinckmann

(1862-1934)

Danish/German painter and pioneer printmaker.

Exhibited in Germany 1898 and 1901.

(This supposedly portrait of Henriette appeared actually to represent her sister: Henrikka Møller-Hahn. See the comment of sept. 14th 2015) 

Two days ago I read expert Charles' recent posting in Modern Printmakers dealing with an early (1912) William Giles' (1872-1939) print and it left me wondering if Giles' orange sun disk may have been inspired inspired by a print by Henriete Hahn created a decade earlier in 1898.  She was then already known for her innovative floral designs combined with woodblock printing a few years earlier. I understand Giles visited Germany in the early 1900's because I know of his series of 1905 prints depicting the city of Quedlinburg, its castle and surroundings. 

Henriette was born in Kopenhagen in 1862 as the daughter of the sailing-ships captain Christian Hahn and Caroline Nielsen. She attended the Arts and Crafts school in Kopenhagen and was appointed teacher there and later acquired a position at the famous Arts and Craft School for Girls in Hamburg (Kunstgewerbeschule). She left for Paris to work and study in 1892 when Hamburg schools closed because of the outbreak of cholera.  

"Passionsblumen": 1897

She was later to become the third wife of founder and first  director Justus Brinckmann (1843-1915) of the Kunstgewerbe Museum. Earlier she created woodblock print illustrations for his book on Japanese pottery. Brinckmann's fascination for Japanese prints lead to exhibitions in Hamburg as early as 1896. He must have been fascinated by Henriette in person too because returning from Paris she presented him their (illegitimate) daughter in 1893, later marrying him and giving him another 3 children (read Brinckmann's interesting biography here*). During her marriage she was not allowed to be professionally publicly active by her husband, forcing her to continue her artistic career after his death in 1915. 

"Abenstimmung": 1904

Her innovative print "Schwanenwiek" shows a very Art-Deco flock of swans in the "Außer Alster" in Hamburg (Schwanenwik is the name of the Park) and is a purely Impressionist composition of the sun, its light and it's reflections. The swans' differences in perspective and volumes are very un-Japanese. It was printed probably from 6 blocks with watercolor paint, without a key block and with "flowing" colors. The leafless tree and trelliswork on the other hand are very Japanese elements. The orange sun and its reflections could inspired by Claude Monet's 1872 painting.

The vertical dimension of this large print (of an edition of 50 pulled) to emphasize this was meant to be an independent work of art and not an illustration. The print was widely praised and discussed at the time. 

Although Charles' posting was the reason for this posting this is a good opportunity to show some more examples of Hahn innovative works. By birth she is the (almost*) oldest(**) of the first generation of German (Nordic) women working with woodblock printmaking born 1860-1900 and working in Hamburg, Berlin, Dresden and Munich. 

(*) See also the discovery and research on Danish/German printmaker Emma Maier (Meier) (1859-1921) who also worked and teached in the Kunstgewerbe Schule in Hamburg.  

(**) printmaker Eleonore Doelter was born 1855 but only later in life became involved in printmaking.

Information on "Schwanenwiek": Birgit Ahrens in "Wege zur Gabrielle Munter und Käthe Kolwitz, 2013.

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