Printmaking in the Time of COVID-19. Douze Contemporains 1959, a portfolio challenge.

COVID – 19 is hampering the collective spirit of printmakers, forcing us to work alone rather in the shops we share.

Athraigh Print Studio challenges printmakers to reach out to each other and organize invitational virtual portfolios. Please share this and please post your portfolios to help fill the days of those practicing the prescribed (by science) isolation.

For motivation please look at a few examples from, Douze Contemporains 1959, a portfolio of twelve prints created by Braque, Chagall, Derain, Dufy, Leger, Matisse, Modigliani, Picasso, Rouault, Utrillo, Villon and Vlaminck (organized by J. Lassaigne and printed with pochoir by Daniel Jacomet).

Andre Derain

Paysage, from Douze Contemporains, 1959

Lithograph with Pochoir

Henri Matisse

La Danse, (1931) from Douze Contemporains,1959

Lithograph with Pochoir

Georges Braque

Les Barques Sur La Plage, from Douze Contemporains, 1959

Lithograph with Pochoir

Fernand Leger

L'Artiste dans le Studio, from Douze Contemporains, 1959

Lithograph with Pochoir

Raoul Dufy

Paddock, from Douze Contemporains, 1959

Lithograph with Pochoir

Thanks for tuning in!

Here's the video version:

 

I’d be excited to share your COVID - 19 small print portfolios on the main website:

https://www.joelelginathraighprintstudio.com/

Printmaking in the Time of COVID-19. “Henri Matisse, Selected Pochoir Prints”

COVID – 19 has been the motivation for the run of depression era prints I’ve posted most recently. The themes of breadlines, unemployment and financial crisis seem to be repeating.

To cheer youall up, today’s video features the Fauve rich color of Henri  Matisse and a peek into how he made the color happen in his prints.

The career of Henri Matisse (1869 – 1954) encompasses nearly all media and numerous areas of content. The possibilities of colorful cut shapes printed using the pochoir technique, first utilized to reproduce his Jazz Portfolio in 1943, enchanted Matisse, and caused him to leave painting and concentrate on his famous cut outs.

So what is pochoir?

Pochoir is a direct technique for hand coloring through a stencil usually in conjunction with intaglio or  lithography.  A stencil was cut from a thin metal and the stencil and stencil-brush were  used to create the complete image or to add color selectively to a printed image. A separate stencil was created for each color. On occasion, up to forty stencils were used. 

Pochoir printing was most popular in Paris, from the late 19th century through the 1930’s. At the peak of its popularity, there were dozens of studios in France using this technique, each employing up to 600 workers.

By the mid twentieth century, pochoir was replaced in popularity by more mechanized forms of color printing such as lithography and serigraphy. Pochoir’s expense and time intensive process help relegate the practice to the dusty shelves of most printmaker’s techniques.

Odalisque au Tambourin, 1929.

Color pochoir (hand-colored stencil print after a study for the painting of the same title).

Harmonie Jaune, 1929.

Color pochoir (hand-colored stencil print) after a painting.

La Séance du Matin, 1924.

Color pochoir (hand-colored stencil print) after a painting.

La Séance de Trois Heures, 1924.

Color pochoir (hand-colored stencil print) after a painting.

The Nightmare of the White Elephant, from Jazz, 1947

Color pochoir with gouache on ivory wove paper.

The Codomas, from Jazz, 1947.

Color pochoir with gouache on ivory wove paper.

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After looking at these Matisse prints, I'm pulling Pochoir off my own dusty shelf.

Please catch the video version of this post: