L’Estampe originale
The most successful and progressive print album was André Marty’s L’Estampe originale, which ran to 95 lithographs, etchings and woodcuts, and was published in nine instalments of one hundred each.
It was limited in principle to original prints that were both designed and executed by the artists themselves. The contributing printmakers were young and old, emerging and established.
Marty also invited artists who did not ordinarily make prints to contribute, as a result of which the collection offers a marvellous survey of artistic trends at the end of the 19th century.
Lesser-known albums
The success of L’Estampe originale encouraged other champions of fine-art printmaking to publish albums too.
The art dealer Ambroise Vollard, for instance, asked both young and established artists to make colour lithographs for his Album des peintres-graveurs and Album d'estampes originales de la Galerie Vollard.
The album L’Epreuve by the artist Maurice Dumont consisted of deluxe editions which, in addition to the final impression of the print, included trial proofs that offered an insight into the artistic process.
Edouard Vuillard, Trial proof for the cover for the non-published album L'Album d'estampes originales de la Galerie Vollard, 1899
Pierre Bonnard, Cover, 1895
Pierre Bonnard, Cover, 1897
Further reading
- Donna M. Stein, Donald H. Karshan, L'Estampe originale. A Catalogue Raisonné, New York 1970
- Jean-Pierre Seguin, Maurice Dumont 1869–1899: peintre-graveur, illustrateur, poète et éditeur de l'Epreuve, Paris 1991
- Janine Bailly-Herzberg, Dictionnaire de l'estampe en France.1830–1950, Paris 1992