Henri Guinier, Nuit Douce, 1899, Original Lithograph

Henri Guinier (1867-1927)

Nuit Douce
(Sweet Night)

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): 315 x 264 mm

Signed in the plate, bottom 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)

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

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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 Anatole Le Braz).
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About the artist

Henri Guinier (1867 - 1927) was a French portrait and landscape painter.

Due to his father's pressure, he joined the "École des Arts et Métiers" (Arts and Sciences) of Châlons-sur-Marne in 1883, as an engineering student, and graduated in 1889. But then, he took courses at the Academie Julian and the École des beaux-arts in Paris, being attached to the studios of Jean-Joseph Benjamin-Constant and Jules Lefebvre. In 1896 he was awarded second prize in the Prix de Rome, followed by a gold medal at the Salon des artistes français in 1898. In that year he won a bursary which took him to Holland, Switzerland and Italy. He also won a silver medal at the great Paris 1900 "Exposition universelle".

He was an excellent pastellist and colorist and painted many portraits, mostly of women. He painted landscapes and marine views, mostly around Concarneau and the Pays Bigouden, as well as Le Faouët, Vannes, Paimpol and the Île-de-Bréhat.

He painted many subjects: the allegorical, genre works, nudes, portraits and the countryside, and spent time in Italy, Holland, the Alps and the Pyrénées.

In 2007, the family gave their archives to the museum in Quimper- the "Musée départemental Breton". In 2008, the museum of Le Faouët held a retrospective exhibition of his work.

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from the text on the tissue paper, by Anatole Le Braz:

Penché sur tes yeux gris à la clarté changeante,
Je vois un pays grave, un pensif horizon,
Des quais, au bord de l'eau qu'un clair de lune argente,
Et dans un bourg antique une jeune maison.
La jeune maison blanche, aux fenêtres ouvertes,
Tournait le dos au monde et regardait la mer.
Des barques s'endormaient sous leurs voiles inertes
Et les vents fatigués s'assoupissaient dans l'air.
Tes yeux évocateurs ont des clartés subtiles.
Les roses du matin ont refleuri les cieux.
Comme aux jours du Port-Blanc, le groupe des Sept-Iles
S'est mis à défiler dans le fond de tes yeux.
Elles nageaient ainsi, les iles enchantées,
Dans une lueur blonde au-dessus des flots pers,
Et, le soir, descendaient par l'abime tentées,
L'escalier d'or qui mène à l'au-delà des mers.
Dans tes yeux assombris, je vois une nuit douce,
L'ajonc mouillé l'embaume, et le goémon roux...
Une fontaine en pleur sanglote dans la mousse
Entendre sangloter les fontaines est doux.
C'était un chemin creux ombragé de grands frênes,
C'était le pays noir, les landes, les hauteurs.
Dans le silence ému des larges nuits sereines
Se répondaient au loin les appels des pasteurs.
J'assiste dans tes yeux au lever des étoiles;
D'un mystérieux pas on les entend marcher ;
C'est un bruit souple et lent de robes et de voiles
Peut-être au bord du ciel, un Dieu va se pencher!

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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