To offer a unique work of art is to share the singularity of an artistic gesture. A piece that exists in only one example carries an immediate presence, a direct trace of creation. It is a rare gift, establishing a tangible link between the artist and the person who receives it.
Complete series of illustrations the tale of Red Riding Hood hand-painted on 12 glass plates intended for a magic lantern, the ancestor of the projector and the cinema.
Publisher's cardboard box, with the titles on the top board: “12 Superior English Made lantern slides”. Handwritten: “Red Riding Hood”. Signs of rubbing on the box. A stop in the split lid at 2cm. On plate 9, paper is missing which circles the plate in a border. On plate 12, the black part has a small scratch, this part encircling the medallion which is projected by the lantern. Otherwise collection in excellent condition.
Millikin & Lawley carried out their trade in magic lanterns and plates between 1860...
Ink and watercolour portrait of the poet Paul Verlaine by his friend Marie Crance, bearing the artist's signature and the handwritten caption “Paul Verlaine à l'hôpital”.
A single sheet, presented in a frame with a mount. An inscription on the back of the frame—“written in the margin (by the framer): ‘For Messrs. Thénot and Lercey, 25 April 1894’”—provides a likely terminus post quem for the drawing.
Marie Crance (1860–1945), nicknamed Marie-aux-fleurs, was at the time the companion of the illustrator Frédéric-Auguste Cazals, whom she married in 1912. A laundress, maid, and occasional singer in the poet’s favourite...
First edition of this aquatint, printed on laid paper with wide margins. Félicien Rops' characteristic signature is present below the plate in red.
Plate mark dimensions: 18.7x13.9cm. Sheet dimensions: 46x35.2cm
Tense face of a young professor bound by the tongue to the lower body of another figure with strong legs and arms. The latter is visible only from behind and seems to be breaking free from the grip of two strange tentacles emerging from the bulb from which the professor's head protrudes. These surround the main action and create an impression of movement.
Fourteen busts of highly expressive figures, all different from one another, form a circle around...
Original ink drawing, signed E. Devéria in the lower right.
Portrait of a young man in formal attire, holding a handkerchief in his left hand.
Eugène Devéria (1805–1865) was one of the major painters of the Romantic movement alongside Eugène Delacroix. From the start, his submissions to the Salon attracted notice, culminating in 1827 with la Naissance de Henri IV [The Birth of Henry IV], which enjoyed considerable success. He continued to depict historical scenes, notably Puget presenting his Milon of Crotone to Louis XIV...
Rare original lithograph printed in colour, by Louis John Rhead for L'Estampe Moderne, “Deuxième prime gratuite réservée aux abonnés d'un an de L'Estampe Moderne” [Second free gift reserved for the annual subscribers to L'Estampe Moderne].
One of the 50 grand luxe proofs printed on Japon paper with wide margins, artist's signature and date in the plate, publisher's embossed stamp showing a child's profile on the lower margin, a numbered stamp of the tirage de luxe on the back; engraving preceded by a protective tissue guard with the name of the artist, the title and a poem; as well as a blank protective tissue guard.
Lithograph inspired by a poem extract...
Les Maîtres de l'Affiche – imprimerie Chaix | Paris 1896 | plate: 29 x 39.9 cm | frame: 38 x4 3.5 cm | framed lithograph poster on vélin fin paper
NB: The poster is sold framed, but would have to be shipped without the frame.
Recto verso fragments of a manuscript book of hours on parchment with sumptuously illuminated full-page borders. This compartmentalized division of ornaments is representative of the production from Rouen and Parisian workshops at the turn of the 16th century.
Two illuminated pages on a recto verso leaf: border divided into bands and lozenges decorated with floral motifs and leafy designs, gilt initials painted in alternating red and blue and rubrics.
The richness of the illumination characterizes these liturgical books intended for laypeople. Books of hours were at the time jewels of piety, both an instrument of religious practice and a social...
Extremely rare original medallion photograph on albumen paper, carte de visite format, mounted on a card from Anatole Pougnet’s Paris studio. Manuscript annotations on the verso. No other copy of this photograph has been traced in international public collections.
Photographic portrait of Eugène Delacroix
Original photograph on albumin paper, in a visiting-card format, laid down on card. Foxing.
Very rare copy of this photograph, only found at Carnavalet, Louvre and Orsay museums.
Original photograph, contemporary silver halide print on crumière paper, taken at the surrealist exhibition in Paris in 1938. “Wide World Photos – Services photographiques The New York Times” imprinted on the verso.
This picture depicts the object “Cadavre exquis” by André Breton, which was exhibited in the room adjacent to the main room at the exhibition and surrounded by paintings by René Magritte and sculptures by Hans Arp.
Stencilled inset glued on the back of the picture: “International Surrealism Exhibition 1938 opens at the Beaux-arts gallery. Paris. What to think of this curious “chest of drawers” on a woman's legs? Photo NYT Paris Fre. 18.1.38 DB.”
FOUCAULT Michel Portrait of Michel Foucault. Original artist's photograph.
Large original photographic portrait in black and white by Marc Trivier.
Original unsigned silver print, like most of Trivier's works.
Small tear to upper edge.
A handsome original silver print proof by the famous Belgian photographer, one of the most secretive contemporary artists, who - despite early international success - preferred to limit his output to preserve the coherence of his oeuvre. Marc Trivier doesn't do after-prints of his old portraits, and in any case, the paper he used for printing is no longer sold. The artist "prints his images himself on Ilford baryta paper, devoting several...
