21. Auguste Lepère
(1849-1918)

La Cathédrale de Rouen (Rouen Cathedral)

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Lepère, La Cathédrale de Rouen

La Cathédrale de Rouen (Rouen Cathedral)

Wood engraving, 1888, Lotz-Brissonneau 177 iii/iii, 510 x 320 mm. Fine impression on japan tissue with good margins, signed in pencil and numbered from the edition of 50 ; the paper is lightly toned and there are some bits of mounting tape and slight losses of paper along the edges of the sheet, all far from the image. This is one of Lepère’s monumental wood engravings and L-B regards it as one of his most important works of the period. It is not hard to see why. Yes, all the detail of stonework is there, but, going far beyond the straightforward portrayal of an edifice, Lepère gives us the varied play of light and shadow on the stone surfaces, the street, the sky and the human activity. It is the cathedral on a certain day, at a certain time, never to be seen exactly this way again. Lotz-Brissonneau was unaware of this edition of 50, noting only that in the final state the blocks were printed in “degraded” blue and black to the disapproval of the artist. This is not the case here.

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