GRASSET EUGÈNE Les Mois Douze Compositions gravées sur bois

Sale 2075 - Lot 27

Unsold

Estimate: $ 5,000 - $ 7,500

GRASSET, EUGÈNE. Les Mois: Douze Compositions gravées sur bois & imprimées en chromotypographie. A lovely series of twelve color plates, one for each month, designed for the calendar of the Parisian department store La Belle Jardinière. Sheets measure 317x241 mm; 121/2x91/2 inches, images are roughly 8x6 inches; 200x152 mm. 4to, plates loose as issued in lettered grey wrappers, separated along spine; some occasional light marginal foxing and toning along the very edges. Paris: G. De Malherbe, 1894 [or 1896]

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Additional Details

In the early 1890s Grasset began experimenting with a new form of printing called chromotypography, an early form of photolithography invented by his friend, Firmin Gillot. This calendar was printed in "Gillotage," a version of chromotypography where the plates are engraved on wood and printed on vellum. Both Arwas and Murray Robertson date this calendar to 1896, but it was offered in the May 15, 1894 issue of La Plume, (which was dedicated to Grasset's work), thus making the calendar two years older than previously thought. La Plume offered the calendar for sale on vellum (like this copy) at 5 francs and quoted it as "extremely rare." Grasset spent nearly 20 years of his career working for La Belle Jardinière, designing additional calendars for them in 1899 and 1904. These images are perfect examples of Grasset's style, depicting women tending formalized gardens, with dress and flowers that change with the seasons. Arwas, pages 26-28; Murray Robertson, page 123.