?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 5,000 - $ 7,500
HENRI MEUNIER (1879-1922) RAJAH. 1897. 23 3/8x29 1/4 inches. Gouweloos, Brussels. Condition B+: repaired tear through left margin; creases and abrasions in image. Matted and framed. Born into an artistic family, Meunier became a skillful painter and engraver. He also developed a unique graphic style in which he used only two or three colors, in flat tones, delineated by sophisticated outlining. His images evoke a sense of purity and even silence, capturing "a moment in suspension, which creates an atmosphere, focusing one's attention" (The Poster p. 60). Rajah was a coffee importer, who selected some of the best graphic designers to help promote his brand (he also employed Privat Livemont). Here, in a magical evocation of coffee, an Indonesian woman is captured in a moment of eternal tranquility. Depicted in elegant repose, with her eyes closed, she is savoring the smell of her coffee that is wafting through the air in subtle, stylized Art Nouveau swirls. The overall coffee-colored tones of the image augment the powerful graphic. Writing in l'Estampe et l'Affiche in 1898, Crauzat declared Rajah to be a "masterpiece" and Meunier's "best work." DFP II 1082, Maitres 156, Weill p. 95, Masters 1900 p. 91. Wine Spectator 99.
