Paul Berthon
Vision Antique
1899

Name: Vision Antique
Brand: Paul Berthon
Price: 400 USD
Availability: InStock

About the Item

Vision Antique Color lithograph, 1899 Signed in the stone upper left (see photo) Titled in the stone lower right (see photo) Edition: unsigned edition about 200 (per Arwas) Published by Sagot, Paris Reference: Arwas No. 39, 2nd state B, unsigned edition Condition: Good, usual aging to the sheet, colors fresh Provenance: Edmund Sagot, Paris (the publisher) Part of a series of four similar sized color lithographs combining landscapes with figures Regarding the artist: Paul Berthon (b Villefranche, Rhone, 1872; d Paris, 1909) Little specific is known about the short 37-year life of this French designer and lithographer. He began his training in Villefranche, where he studied painting. In 1893 he moved to Paris, entering the Ecole Normale d'Enseignement du Dessin. There he became a pupil and disciple of Eugene-Samuel Grasset, the Professor of Decorative Arts, and was also influenced by Luc Olivier Merson. Berthon's main output consisted of posters and decorative panels. However, he also produced bookbindings and furniture designs, both of which he exhibited at the Salon in 1895. He created designs for ceramics for Villeroy & Boch in the late 1890s; and a few designs for the covers of such magazines as L'Image (July 1897) and Poster (May 1899). His work is in an Art Nouveau style. He adopted that movement's plant and figural motifs, especially the motif of the femme fatale, as well as the long sinuous lines that characterize the movement. These features can be seen in such works as the poster Leçons de violon (1898). Berthon distinguished himself in the production of large, colored posters in the relatively new medium of chromolithography, some of which were printed under the direction of Jules Cheret by Chaix & Company. The graphic oeuvre of Paul Berthon consists of ninety-four original lithographs. Almost two-thirds of Berthon's original lithographs are what the artist termed, "Panneaux Decoratifs" (Decorative panels). Unlike most Art Nouveau posters, Berthon's panneaux decoratifs included no advertising and no letterpress. They were meant to stand alone as significant works of art in their own right. A large collection of his work seems to have been destroyed during the world wars. By the start of the First World War the Art Nouveau movement had lost its momentum. The posters of Berthon, Grasset and Mucha were no longer prized possessions, and many of the posters were lost. During the economic depression that followed World War II many of the lithographic posters were used as wallpaper or wrapping paper. Berthon died in Paris in 1909. Courtesy: Answers and Enchanted gal

Creator:

Paul Berthon (1872-1909, French)

Creation Year:

1899

Dimensions:

Height: 12.875 in (32.71 cm)Width: 25.625 in (65.09 cm)

Medium:

Lithograph

Movement & Style:

Art Nouveau

Period:

1890-1899