L A Willette

Adolphe Léon Willette was born in Châlons-sur-Marne on July 30, 1857. He studied for four years at the École des Beaux-Arts under Alexandre Cabanel. It gave him a unique position among the graphic humorists of France. Whether comedy or tragedy, trivial or political satire, his work is instinct with the profound sincerity of the artist. He set Pierrot upon a lofty pedestal among the imaginary heroes of France and established Mimi Pinson, frail, lovable and essentially good-hearted, in the affections of the nation. Willette is at once the modern Watteau of the pencil and the exponent of sentiments that move the more emotional section of the public. Always a poet and usually gay, fresh and delicate, in his presentation of idylls exquisitely dainty and characteristically Gallic, illustrating the more charming side of love, often pure and sometimes extremely materialistic. Willette frequently revealed himself as bitter and fierce, even ferocious, in his hatreds, being violent though at the same time a generous partisan of political ideas. He was furiously compassionate with love and pity for the people whether they are ground down under the heel of political oppression or merely the victims of unrequited love, suffering all the pangs of graceful anguish that are born of scornful treatment. There is charm even in his thrilling apotheosis of the guillotine and in the introduction into his caricatures of the figure of death itself. The artist was a prolific contributor to the French illustrated press under the pseudonyms, Cemoi, Pierrot, Louison, Bebe and Nox, but more often under his own name. He illustrated Melandri's Les Pierrots and Les Giboulées d'avril, Le Courrier français and published his own Pauvre Pierrot and other works, in which he tells his stories in scenes. He decorated several brasseries artistiques with wall-paintings, stained glass, notably Le Chat Noir and La Palette d'or and he painted the highly imaginative ceiling for La Cigale music hall. His characteristically fantastic Parce Domine was shown in the Franco-British Exhibition in 1908. A remarkable collection of his works was exhibited in 1888. His V'almy is in Luxembourg, Paris. He passed away on February 4, 1926, in Paris, France.

Decorating with fine art prints — whether they’re figurative prints, abstract prints or another variety — has always been a practical way of bringing a space to life as well as bringing works by an artist you love into your home.

Pursued in the 1960s and ’70s, largely by Pop artists drawn to its associations with mass production, advertising, packaging and seriality, as well as those challenging the primacy of the Abstract Expressionist brushstroke, printmaking was embraced in the 1980s by painters and conceptual artists ranging from David Salle and Elizabeth Murray to Adrian Piper and Sherrie Levine.

Printmaking is the transfer of an image from one surface to another. An artist takes a material like stone, metal, wood or wax, carves, incises, draws or otherwise marks it with an image, inks or paints it and then transfers the image to a piece of paper or other material.

Fine art prints are frequently confused with their more commercial counterparts. After all, our closest connection to the printed image is through mass-produced newspapers, magazines and books, and many people don’t realize that even though prints are editions, they start with an original image created by an artist with the intent of reproducing it in a small batch. Fine art prints are created in strictly limited editions — 20 or 30 or maybe 50 — and are always based on an image created specifically to be made into an edition.

Many people think of revered Dutch artist Rembrandt as a painter but may not know that he was a printmaker as well. His prints have been preserved in time along with the work of other celebrated printmakers such as Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dalí and Andy Warhol. These fine art prints are still highly sought after by collectors.

“It’s another tool in the artist’s toolbox, just like painting or sculpture or anything else that an artist uses in the service of mark making or expressing him- or herself,” says International Fine Print Dealers Association (IFPDA) vice president Betsy Senior, of New York’s Betsy Senior Fine Art, Inc.

Because artist’s editions tend to be more affordable and available than his or her unique works, they’re more accessible and can be a great opportunity to bring a variety of colors, textures and shapes into a space.

For tight corners, select small fine art prints as opposed to the oversized bold piece you’ll hang as a focal point in the dining area. But be careful not to choose something that is too big for your space. And feel free to lean into it if need be — not every work needs picture-hanging hooks. Leaning a larger fine art print against the wall behind a bookcase can add a stylish installation-type dynamic to your living room. (Read more about how to arrange wall art here.)

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