Emile Auguste WERY

Rare original color lithograph, executed by Emile Auguste Wéry for L'Estampe Moderne, series number 4 published in August 1897.
One of 50 deluxe proofs printed on Japan paper with wide margins, artist's signature and date in the plate, publisher's dry stamp representing a child's profile in the lower margin, numbered stamp of the deluxe edition on the reverse; engraving preceded by a tissue guard inscribed with the artist's name, title and presentation text; and another blank tissue guard.
Magnificent French monthly publication edited between May 1897 and April 1899, L'Estampe moderne consists of original chromolithographs which, unlike other reviews such as Les Maîtres de l'Affiche and as stipulated on the tissue guards, were created specially by each artist for the review. Thus 100 prints appear in total, covering the major artistic movements of the end of the 19th century: Symbolism, Art Nouveau, Pre-Raphaelites, Orientalists and Belle Époque. Each delivery of four prints is issued in 2000 copies sold for 3.50F and 100 on Japan paper offered at 10F. Henri Piazza also provides for a confidential deluxe printing: 50 copies on Japan paper with wide margins and 50 in black on China paper at the considerable price of 30F.
This print of handsome format is superbly printed in colors on the most prestigious of papers: Japan. Thick, silky, satiny and pearlescent, it contributes to making each page a work in its own right. Its quality of ink absorption and its affinity with colors also make it the ideal support for these very beautiful lithographs.
The interest of French collectors in artistic posters intensifies at the beginning of the 1890s. Octave Uzanne, to qualify this fever, invents the term "affichomanie". The poster, originally popular and plastered in the streets of the capital, then becomes an art object and its ephemeral support becomes precious and destined for preservation.
Piazza decides to remove the poster from its advertising vocation and elevate it to the rank of a work of art in its own right on the same level as the luxury illustrated book. He thus composes a prestigious collection of entirely original works, by the most prominent European artists of the moment: Georges de Feure, Eugène Grasset, Henri Detouche, Emile Berchmans, Louis Rhead, Gaston de Latenay, Lucien Lévy-Dhurmer, Gustave-Max Stevens, Charles Doudelet, Hans Christiansen, Henri Fantin-Latour, Steinlen, Ibels, Engels, Willette, Henri Meunier, Evenepoël, Bellery-Desfontaines, Charles Léandre, etc.
Handsome copy.

Rare original lithograph executed by Emile Auguste Wéry for L'Estampe Moderne, series number 4 published in August 1897.
One of 50 deluxe proofs printed on China with wide margins, artist's signature and date in the plate, publisher's dry stamp representing a child's profile in lower margin, mounted on a sheet of laid paper with on the verso the numbered stamp of the deluxe edition, pale marginal foxing and a very slight lower marginal tear.
Magnificent French monthly publication issued between May 1897 and April 1899, L'Estampe moderne comprises unpublished chromolithographs which, unlike other magazines such as Les Maîtres de l'Affiche and as stipulated on the tissue guards, were created specially by each artist for the magazine. Thus 100 prints appeared in total, covering the major artistic movements of the late nineteenth century: Symbolism, Art Nouveau, Pre-Raphaelites, Orientalists and Belle Epoque. Each delivery of four prints was issued in 2000 copies sold for 3.50F and 100 on Japan paper offered at 10F. Henri Piazza also planned a confidential deluxe printing: 50 copies on Japan with wide margins and 50 in black on China at the considerable price of 30F.
This print of fine format is superbly printed on one of the most prestigious papers: China. "Malgré toutes ses qualités, le papier de Chine, trop inconsistant, doit sa réputation, non pas à sa propre beauté, mais bien à ses affinités particulières avec l'encre d'impression. Son tissu, lisse et mou tout ensemble, est plus apte qu'aucun autre à recevoir un beau tirage. Cette propriété fait rechercher le papier de Chine pour le tirage des gravures..." ["Despite all its qualities, China paper, too inconsistent, owes its reputation not to its own beauty, but to its particular affinities with printing ink. Its texture, smooth and soft together, is more apt than any other to receive a fine printing. This property makes China paper sought after for printing engravings..."] (Anatole France).
French collectors' interest in artistic posters grew in the early 1890s. Octave Uzanne, to describe this fever, invented the term "affichomanie". The poster, originally popular and plastered on the streets of the capital, then became an art object and its ephemeral medium became precious and destined for preservation.
Piazza decided to remove the poster from its advertising purpose and elevate it to the rank of a complete work of art on the same level as the deluxe illustrated book. He thus composed a prestigious collection of entirely original works by the most prominent European artists of the moment: Georges de Feure, Eugène Grasset, Henri Detouche, Emile Berchmans, Louis Rhead, Gaston de Latenay, Lucien Lévy-Dhurmer, Gustave-Max Stevens, Charles Doudelet, Hans Christiansen, Henri Fantin-Latour, Steinlen, Ibels, Engels, Willette, Henri Meunier, Evenepoël, Bellery-Desfontaines, Charles Léandre, etc.
Fine copy.