Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Woman Combing her Hair, the Hairdo (Femme qui se peigne, la coiffure) from the series Elles, 1896
Colour lithography
Mellerio described how ‘colour is spread out in a victorious manner’ in Pellet’s shop. His most prestigious colour project was the print series Elles by Toulouse-Lautrec.
Pellet was only too keen to associate his name with the marvellous series: he personally signed and numbered the eleven colour lithographs with their intimate brothel scenes and had the high-quality printing paper watermarked with his name.
Erotic specialty
Pellet focused on a titillating niche in the print world by specialising in erotic prints designed by avant-garde artists. He opted in particular for the risqué, and in some cases downright subversive etchings by the printmakers Félicien Rops and Louis Legrand.
The bond between the dealer and his artists went so far that he became close friends with them, sold everything they produced, and even compiled their oeuvre catalogues.
Further reading
- André Mellerio, La lithographie originale en couleurs, Paris 1898
- J. R., ‘M. Gustave Pellet’, Le Courrier français 7 (18-02-1900), no. 7, p. 9
- Gustave Pellet, Maurice Exteens & Kornfeld und Klipstein, Archives de la maison Gustave Pellet, Bern 1962