Chahine - Les Buttes Chaumont

Edgar Chahine (1874-1947), Les Buttes Chaumont (Premier Planche), drypoint, 1917, signed in pencil lower left, annotated “ep d’artiste”, titled lower right. Reference: Tabanelli 337, second state (of 2). Aside from the edition of 50. In very good condition, printed on a Japon pelure applique (on a heavy cream Arches paper, with the Arches watermark), as called for by Tabanelli. The full sheet with deckle edges, 8 1/2 x 12 1/2, the sheet 13 x 19 3/4 inches.

Provenance: Galerie Grillon, Paris

A fine impression, printed in a brownish/black ink with substantial burr from the drypoint work, and plate tone.

In the rare first state Chahine had included a group towards the bottom of the composition at the right, as well as an infant sleeping in a carriage. In the second state he burnished out this group (although shadowy lines in this proof attest to their earlier presence), adding the old woman and infant in the middle. Thus Chahine created this rather striking inverted triangular composition, with a woman and younger children at the upper left, an adult group picnicking upper right, tiny silhouetted figures in the background center, and the younger and older woman and children middle foreground.

Detail

Edgar Chahine (1874-1947), Gigolette, drypoint, 1924, signed in pencil. Tabanelli 399, from the edition of 50 proofs. Only state.  On a china applique on wove, in very good condition, with full margins, 12 1/2 x 8 3/4, the sheet 19 x 13 inches; archival mounting.

A fine fresh impression printed in dark brown ink, with substantial drypoint burr and carefully placed plate tone. The plate has been wiped more cleanly on the blouse and face of Gigolette, giving these areas a luminous quality.

Edgar Chahine was born in Venice, to Armenian parents, and spent his youth in Constantinople. He moved to Paris in 1895, where he began making prints. Through his objective portrayal of the petite bourgeois, Chahine gave us a portrait of an era.

One popular aspect of his work centers on the elegant ladies of the Fin de Siecle,  but he also portrayed shopkeepers, farmers, café habitues, performers; Gigolette is surely a Venetian subject. Chahine’s landscapes and seascapes show the influence of Whistler, then a printmaking icon. A fire in Chahine’s studio, and a flood in 1942, account for the rarity of his work.

Edgar Chahine (1874-1947), Ginette, drypoint, 1915, signed in pencil lower left, titled lower right, and numbered (19/50). Reference: Tabanelli 333, only state. In very good condition, the full sheet with wide margins (a crease near margin edge left, slight toning); 8 1/2 x 12 1/2, the sheet 12 1/4 x 19 1/2 inches, archival matting.

A fine impression of this rare print, printed in lush black ink with much satiny burr from the drypoint work, printed with a subtle layering of plate tone especially toward the bottom.

Tabanelli notes that he does not know the edition size of this plate, that the only impressions he has seen were not numbered, and that this plate is “rare.” This suggests that in fact the print was not editioned (despite the numbering). We do not know of any other impressions to come onto the market during the past 15 years.

Ginette is one of Chahine’s great portraits in the Belle Epoque style.

Edgar Chahine (1874-1947), Ada, 1901, drypoint, signed in pencil lower left also initials, dated and titled in the plate] Reference: Tabanelli 65, second state (of 2). In very good condition, with full margins, on cream wove paper, 7 1/4 x 13, the sheet 14 x 22 inches. Archival mounting with window mat.

A very fine impression of this important Fin de Siecle Belle Epoque masterpiece, surely Chahine’s greatest portrait. With a rich drypoint burr on Ada’s fur and hat, and a subtle layer of plate tone over her dress and divan; her face and parts of the hat have been wiped carefully to heighten her appearance.

Chahine, unlike his contemporary portrait specialists such as Zorn or Helleu, addressed social issues and people of varying social classes in his etchings. It is perhaps his greater depth, and his ability to portray a wide range of subject matter, that enables him to convey the intelligence and insight of Ada, as well as her beauty, in the apparent context of a traditional Belle Epoque drypoint.