10. Henry Somm (François Clement Sommier)
(1844-1907)
Calendar for the Year 1881
$850.00
From the Exhibition:
FÉLIX, AUGUSTE and FRIENDS
Available at http://www.drawingsandprints.com/CurrentExhibition/exhibition.cfm?Exhibition=49
Etching and drypoint with letterpress text, 1880, Béraldi 19, 278 x 378 mm. Fine impression with burr on laid paper with full margins, signed in pencil at the lower right of the image; slight traces of an old central fold. That Buhot and Somm were, at least for a time, intimate friends is known from the writings of the collector Philippe Burty, who knew both of them well. Somm was also one of the earliest practitioners of Japonisme in his prints. Inexcusably overlooked today, probably because many of his best images were “functional” products (calendars, invitations, business cards, etc.), he was a fascinating print maker. Calendars, such as this one, were popular in Catholic France, listing saints’ days and religious holidays along with the days of the week, and Somm, among others, seized the opportunity to make something artistic of them. The Japanese elements here are mixed with fashions, pretty ladies, emblems of romance and the like and the text becomes an integral part of the composition.
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