Steinlen’s gillotage gravures, “Paresse” & “Un Mauvais Pas,” 1898

Théophile Alexandre Steinlen (1859–1923)

(left) “Paresse” (Laziness), 1898, and (right) “Un Mauvais Pas” (A bad step), 1898, from the album series of 26 plates, “Des Chats: Dessins sans paroles par Steinlen,” printed by Charles Verneau (fl.1898) and published in 1898 in Paris by Ernest Flammarion (1846–1936).

Gillotage process gravures (viz. an early printing process where the design was initially drawn with lithographic crayon on a zinc plate, then dusted with resin to act as an acid resist, etched and finally the plate was printed as a relief block) on brown wove paper, backed with separate support sheets.

For a marvellous explanation of the gillotage printing process, see Jenya Frid’s (2014) “Gillotage: The Lost History of an Influential Technique”:

http://archive.printeresting.org/2014/10/06/gillotage-the-lost-history-of-an-influential-technique/.

Size: (“Paresse” sheet) 43.5 x 28.4 cm; (“Paresse” image borderline) 33.9 x 24.4 cm;

(“Un Mauvais Pas” sheet) 43.6 x 26.4 cm; (“Un Mauvais Pas” image borderline) 35 x 25.8 cm.

Both sheets are signed on plate within the image borderline at lower right.

Page numbered (“Paresse”: “24”; “Un Mauvais Pas”: “25”) and titled on plate below the image borderline.

De Crauzat 598 (E. de Crauzat 1983, “L'oeuvre gravé et lithographié de Steinlen: Catalogue descriptif et analytique suivi d'un essai de bibliographie et d'iconographie de son oevres illustré”).

This publication is described at the Van Gogh Museum and the British Museum:

https://www.vangoghmuseum.nl/en/prints/collection/p2729S2013;

https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/P_1949-0411-4999-1-26.

Condition: well-printed impressions with different sized margins. Both sheets are in very good condition with no tears, holes, folds, abrasions, foxing or significant stains and laid onto separate support sheets of archival (millennium quality) washi paper.

I am selling this pair of large gillotage gravures executed by an artist famous for his prints of cats and his connection with the artistic comradery of friends (such as Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec) attending the first modern cabaret, “Le Chat Noir,” for the total cost of AU$287 for the pair of prints (currently US$205.57/EUR174.22/GBP157.06 at the time of this listing) including Express Mail (EMS) postage and handling to anywhere in the world, but not including any import duties/taxes imposed by some countries.

If you are interested in purchasing this extraordinary pair of gillotage gravures (viz relief printed etchings) showing not only the personalities of cats but also an underpinning special love and respect that Parisians have for their cats, please contact me (oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com) and I will send you a PayPal invoice to make the payment easy.

This pair of prints has been sold