1898 ALEXANDRE CHARPENTIER (1856-1909) ART NOUVEAU DESIGN

Description: DECORATION IN ENAMELLED TILES FOR A BATHROOM Embossed lithograph, 1898 printed in colours. Original. By ALEXANDRE-LOUIS-MARIE CHARPENTIER (French, 1856-1909) in collaboration with the designer FRANCOIS AUBERT (1839-1900) Signed in the stone with Charpentier's encircled monogram bottom right hand side. The all-important blindstamp of "The Studio" is below the image, bottom right corner. The inscribed tisue-guard is also included in the sale, to further validate the item. Commissioned by "The Studio" and published bound in as a Special Supplement to "The Studio" magazine in 1898 with its blindstamp at bottom right edge. Size of the image area is 22.3 x 16.4 centimetres; sheet area is approx. 28 x 19.5 centimetres. Printed on thick buff-coloured wove art paper, blank to reverse. Condition is very good - no issues at all. Nice, sharp image with good unfaded, delicately muted colours. A scarce and very unusual item. Primarily a sculptor of medals, Charpentier used embossing techniques to lend three-dimensionality to this print featuring his typical subject matter featuring everyday life. Charpentier was also aware of Japanese woodcuts circulating in Paris during the late 19th century, which provided a precedent for using embossing to create pattern and a three-dimensional effect on a flat sheet of paper. The areas in relief, the naked females at the top, very much a "signature" of Charpentier's artistic style, add texture to the overall creation. BIOGRAPHY: Alexandre Charpentier was born in a working-class Parisian neighborhood and raised amid the turmoil of the Franco-Prussian War. At the age of twelve, he was apprenticed to a decorative engraver, a path that led him to the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, where he studied as a designer and engraver of medals in the early 1870s. Charpentier's ambition was to become a sculptor, but his incomplete elementary education prevented him from fulfilling the Ecole's rigorous requirements for that course of study. He abandoned the school before finishing his training as a medalist. His departure from the academy left him unencumbered by tradition and free to experiment with novel formats, styles, and subjects, working in a remarkable range of materials. Though he exhibited regularly at the official Salon and other well-established venues, he also participated in avant-garde circles in Brussels, Vienna, and Paris. Moreover, he was a noted figure in the radical, vernacular Parisian theater for which he designed playbills and sketched the leading actors and critics in clay. In the early 1890s, Charpentier began making decorative objects and furniture. His studio in Paris became the focus of L'Art dans Tout (Art in Everything)--a group of designers, artists, artisans, and architects who collaborated on interior furnishings that they hoped would adorn not only the luxurious villas of their patrons, but also the public housing of the working class.In the early 1890s, Charpentier began making decorative objects and furniture. His studio in Paris became the focus of L'Art dans Tout (Art in Everything)--a group of designers, artists, artisans, and architects who collaborated on interior furnishings that they hoped would adorn not only the luxurious villas of their patrons, but also the public housing of the working class. "The Studio" magazine was a lavishly produced and prestigious showcase for artists in the 1890's to promote their graphic work, they would submit their drawings etc. to be lithographed in the ground-breaking style of "The Studio"s accomplished lithographers such as Thomas Robert Way and William Griggs. Artists of the calibre of Beardsley, Whistler, Waterhouse, Pennell, Vallotton, Knopff etc. etc. used it as a medium for bringing their work to an informed readership. The editors would also commission works from artists, meaning that they would not be published anywhere else. The print run of the magazine was about 3,000, and subscribers included many institutions and galleries both in the UK and further afield. Under the editorship of Charles Holme, it always tried to keep a balance between the work of established artists and new emerging talent, and to promote the "avant-garde" . ALL MY ITEMS ARE SHIPPED BOTH IN UK AND FOR WORLDWIDE BY TRACKED ROYAL MAIL SERVICE, FOR EVERYBODY'S PEACE OF MIND. I COMBINE SHIPPING FOR MORE THAN 1 ITEM IF THERE'S ANY OTHER OF MY ITEMS THAT YOU LIKE.

Price: 29.99 GBP

Location: Wadhurst

End Time: 2024-10-09T18:14:29.000Z

Shipping Cost: 15.74 GBP