Lucien Hector Monod

La Voix des Sources (Voice of the Sources)

1899

Edouard Benedictus, 'Poppy' from the portfolio 'Relais', plate 14, color pochoir, 1930. Signed in the matrix, in the center bottom margin. A superb, richly-inked impression, with fresh, vibrant colors, including metallic gold and silver inks, on heavy, cream wove paper; the full sheet with margins (1 3/8 inches), in excellent condition. Published by Éditions Vincent, Fréal et Cie, Paris. The pochoir production is by Jean Saudé, the French printmaker known for his mastery of the technique and the author of the first how-to book on the pochoir process. Matted to museum standards, unframed. Image size 14 3/8 x 11 inches (365 x 279 mm); sheet size 17 1/4 x 13 7/8 inches (438 x 352 mm). Impressions of this work are held in the following museum collections: Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum Library (Smithsonian), Metropolitan Museum of Art, Minneapolis Institute of Art, New York Public Library, Toledo Museum of Art, Victoria and Albert Museum (London), Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. ABOUT THIS WORK The Pochoir process is a refined stencil-based technique employed to create multiples or to add color to prints produced in other mediums. Characterized by its crisp lines and rich color, the print-making process was most popular from the late 19th century through the 1930s, with its center of activity in Paris. The pochoir process began with the analysis of an image’s composition, including color tones and densities. The numerous stencils (made of aluminum, copper, or zinc) necessary to create a complete image were then designed and hand-cut by the 'découpeur.' The 'coloristes' applied watercolor or gouache pigments through the stencils, skillfully employing a variety of different brushes and methods of paint application to achieve the desired depth of color and textural and tonal nuance. The pochoir process, by virtue of its handcrafted methodology, resulted in the finished work producing the effect of an original painting, and in fact, each print was unique. ABOUT THE ARTIST Edouard Benedictus (1878 -1930), artist, designer, composer, and chemist, was born and died in Paris. A highly-regarded designer and art critic of the Art Nouveau era, Benedictus gained renown as a colorist and creator of Art Deco-inspired geometric and floral motifs. His work had a significant influence on international fashions in clothing, home furnishings, graphic design, and decorative objects of the period, earning him commissions from leading European design firms. In 1925 he was invited to represent Art Deco textile design...

Glenn O. Coleman, 'Hurdy Gurdy Ballet', lithograph 1928, edition 50. Signed, dated, and numbered '14/50' in pencil. Titled in the bottom left margin, in an...

Samella Sanders Lewis, 'The House of Shango', lithograph, 1992, edition 60. Signed, dated, titled, and numbered '31/60' in pencil. A superb, richly-inked impression, on Arches cream wove paper; the full sheet with margins (1 1/4 to 3 1/2 inches), in excellent condition. Image size 24 x 18 inches (610 x 457 mm); sheet size 30 inches x 22 1/4 inches (762 x 565 mm). Archivally matted to museum standards, unframed. ABOUT THIS WORK “The title of this piece is an unmistakable harkening to African roots. Shango is a religious practice with origins in Yoruba (Nigerian) belief, deifying a god of thunder by the same name. Shango has been adopted in the Caribbean, most notably in Trinidad and Tobago, a fact that underscores the importance of transnationalism to Samella Lewis’s piece. Her work often grapples with issues of race in the U.S., and The House of Shango is no exception. Through a reliance on the gradual transformation of Shango—one that took place across continents and time—Lewis’s piece forms a powerful link between black Americans and their African and Caribbean counterparts. The figure depicted in the piece appears to emerge, quite literally, from the house of Shango. Given the roots and transformative process of the religion, The House of Shango can draw attention to the historical intersections to which black American culture is indebted.” —Laura Woods, Scripps College, Ruth Chander Williamson Gallery, Collection Highlights, 2018 ABOUT THE ARTIST Samella Lewis’ lifelong career as an artist, art historian, critic, curator, collector, and advocate of African American art has helped empower generations of artists in the United States and worldwide, earning her the designation “the Godmother of African American art.” Born and raised in Jim Crow era New Orleans, Lewis began her art education at Dillard University in 1941, transferring to Hampton University in Virginia, where she earned her B. A. and master's degrees. She completed her master's and a doctorate in art history and cultural anthropology at Ohio State University in 1951, becoming the first female African American to earn a doctorate in fine art and art history. Lewis taught art at Morgan State University while completing her doctorate. She became the first Chair of the Fine Arts Department at Florida A&M University in 1953. That same year Lewis also became the first African American to convene the National Conference of African American artists held at Florida A&M University. She was a professor at the State University of New York, California State University, Long Beach, and at Scripps College in Claremont, California. Lewis co-founded, with Bernie Casey, the Contemporary Crafts Gallery in Los Angeles in 1970. In 1973, she served on the selection committee for the exhibition BLACKS: USA: 1973 held at the New York Cultural Center. Samella Lewis's 1969 catalog 'Black Artists on Art', featured accomplished black artists typically overlooked in mainstream art galleries. She said of the book, "I wanted to make a chronology of African American artists, and artists of African descent, to document our history. The historians weren't doing it. It was really about the movement." From the 1960s through the 1970s, her work, which included lithographs, linocuts, and serigraphs, reflected her concerns with the values of human dignity, democracy, and freedom of expression. Between 1969 and 70, Lewis and E.J. Montgomery were consultants for a groundbreaking exhibition at the Oakland Public L designed to create greater awareness of African American history and art. Lewis was the founder of the International Review of African American Art in 1975. In 1976, she founded the Museum of African-American Art with a group of artistic, academic, business, and community leaders in Los Angeles, California. Lewis, the museum’s senior curator, organized exhibitions and developed new ways of educating the public about African American art. She celebrated African American art as an 'art of experience’ inspired by the artists’ lives. And she espoused the concept of African American art as an 'art of tradition', urging museums to explore the African roots of African American art. In 1984, Lewis produced an extensive monograph on Elizabeth Catlett, her beloved mentor at Dillard University. Lewis has been collecting art since 1942, focusing primarily on the WPA era and work created during the Harlem Renaissance. Pieces from her collection were acquired by the Hampton University Museum in Virginia, the world’s earliest collection of African American fine art...

Leon Bibel, 'Unemployed Marchers', 2-color lithograph, c. 1938, edition 25. Signed, titled, and numbered '2/25' in pencil. A fine, richly-inked impression on off-white, wove paper, w...