Laboureur - Cavaliers Anglais En Picardie

Jean-Emile Laboureur (1877-1943), Cavaliers Anglais en Picardie, engraving, 1916, signed in pencil lower left, numbered (20/35) and inscribed “imp” lower right [also initialed in the plate lower left]. Reference: Laboureur 158, second state (of 2), from the edition of 35, a total of 43 impressions were printed. In good condition, some unobtrusive scuff marks, on a tan laid paper, watermark MBM, with margins, 8 1/2 x 5 3/4, the shet 10 3/4 x 8 1/2 inches.

A fine impression of this cubist-influenced engraving.

Laboureur studied the old masters in the print rooms of Europe, and here combines a mannerist idiom, with the elongated English figures, with a modernist cubist style particularly evident in the juxtaposition of the houses at the right and the roiling clouds above.

The Battles of the Somme, in Picardy, were among the bloodiest in the history of cavalry (or non-cavalry) warfare; the British cavalry played a crucial role, and suffered hundreds of thousands of casualties (to both men and horses) – but Laboureur was not interested in portraying the tragedy of the war as much as sketching some incidental background moments away from the battleground.

Laboureur - La Merchande de Liqueurs

Jean-Emile Laboureur (1877-1943), La Marchande de Liqueurs, engraving, 1916-1920, signed in pencil lower left and numbered (7/45), annotated “imp” lower right, and titled lower left margin. Reference: Laboureur 165, second state (of 2). In very good condition (remains of prior hinging right edge verso), the full sheet with wide margins, printed in black ink on cream laid paper. 5 1/4 x 4 1/4, the sheet 10 3/4 x 8 5/8 inches.

Provenance: Marcel Lecompte, Paris

A fine fresh impression, printed with a subtle veil of plate tone.

An exquisite example of Laboureur’s use of the burin in furtherance of his cubist style. The elongated body of the woman – and the bottles – may reflect Laboureur’s interest in Mannerist prints, which he studied years earlier in the print rooms of Europe.

Laboureur printed 8 impressions of the first state in 1916, numbering them 1-8. He later added the initial L lower left, and a few lines on the woman’s shoulder, creating a second state, and printed 28 numbered impressions (numbers 29-45 of the intended edition of 45 were never printed), completing the printing of this print after WWI, in 1920. The total impressions printed of La Marchande de Liqueurs in both states is thus 36.

Laboureur - 25e Rue, New York

Jean-Emile Laboureur (1877-1943), 25e Rue, New York, etching and drypoint, 1907, signed in pencil lower left, also titled “Coin de rue Sixth Avenue, New York” and numbered “no. 6″ at the bottom margin [also signed, titled and dated in the plate lower right]. Reference: Laboureur 69, second state (of 2). One of about 23 proofs taken during Laboureur’s lifetime in this state; there were another four first state impressions (before the drypoint work was added to the sky). In very good condition, the full sheet, 7 1/2 x 6, the sheet 12 1/2 x 9 1/2 inches.

Provenance: Marcel Le Compte, Paris, with his pencil marking.

A fine impression, printed in brown ink on a cream wove paper with the CH Wittman watermark.

This print is based on a photograph taken by the artist during a visit to New York; it portrays the corner of Sixth Avenue and 25th Street in Manhattan. At the left a train is coming in on the now-defunct Sixth Avenue El, which was closed in 1938 and razed in 1939.

Laboureur - L'ile Desert, 1914

Jean-Emile Laboureur (1877-1943), L’ile Desert, etching, 1914, signed in pencil lower left and numbered lower right (33/35). Reference: Laboureur 135, only state, from the edition of 35. In very good condition, the full sheet, printed on cream wove Van Gelder Zonen paper (with the full watermark), 11 5/8 x 13 5/8, the sheet 17 1/2 x 22 inches.

Provenance: Marcel Lecompte, Paris, with his pencil marking recto.

A fine impression of this large cubist composition, printed in a dark brownish/black ink on a cream white wove paper.

L’ile Desert was based on a visit Laboureur made to Nova Scotia (La Nouvelle-Écosse).

Laboureur - L'Amazon

Jean-Emile Laboureur (1877-1943), L’Amazon, etching on zinc, 1913, signed in pencil and inscribed to R. Bonfils, dated, and numbered 15/25. Reference: Laboureur 120, only state, from the edition of 25. In very good condition (crease in right margin), the full sheet, 7 3/4 x 5 3/4, the sheet 9 5/8 x 7 3/4 inches.

Provenance: Marcel Lecompte; also (presumably) the artist Robert Bonfils to whom the print is inscribed.

A fine impression of this delicately printed composition, with a subtle veil of plate tone.

The subject is the artist’s sister in front of the family home in Nantes.

The print is inscribed by Laboureur to the artist Robert Bonfils (1886-1972); Bonfils, slightly younger than Laboureur, eventually became a well known printmaker in his own right.  Bonfils was a prolific artist and illustrator, famed for his art deco style, and his most successful work typically manifests the strong influence of Laboureur.

Jean-Emile Laboureur - Bar en Pennsylvanie

Jean-Emile Laboureur (1877-1943), Bar en Pennsylvanie, etching, 1914. Signed in pencil lower left and numbered 21/35 lower right [also signed and dated lower in the plate lower left]. Printed in a dark brownish/black ink on cream laid MBM paper (with the watermark). Reference: Laboureur 134, only state, from the edition of 35. In very good condition, the full sheet (slight soiling in margin edge upper left, small tear margin edge bottom, remains of prior hinging verso). 8 1/4 x 8 5/8, the sheet 13 x 11 inches.

A fine impression of this quintessential cubist print.

In the famed exhibit The Cubist Print (1981) Burr Wallen wrote of Bar en Pennsylvanie “The jaunty cut of the jacket worn by the central figure in the Bar en Pennsylvanie makes an equally whimsical takeoff on Villon’s faceted hatching, while the dapper swing curl of the young bartender pokes fun at eccentricities of Cubist hairstyle. The egg-shaped heads articulated by a single line for the nose deftly allude to simplification of form by Brancusi. In places they are left entirely blank.”

Laboureur - Jeune Fille au Cocktail

Jean-Emile Laboureur (1877-1943), Jeune Fille au Cocktail, engraving, 1921, signed in pencil lower left, numbered (18/65) lower right and annotated “imp”. Reference: Laboureur 224, second state (of 2), from the edition of 65 (another 8 impressions were printed in the first state). In good condition, the full sheet, some cockling in the paper towards the left.  Printed in black on a cream laid MBM paper (with the watermark), 5 1/2 x 4 3/4, the sheet 10 1/2 x 8 3/4 inches.

Provenance: Marcel Lecompte, with his pencil marking recto.

A fine impression of this delicately printed composition, engraved in a loosely cubist idiom.

Jean-Emile Laboureur (1877-1943), Le Souper des Dockers, engraving, 1919-1920, signed in pencil lower left, titled lower left, and numbered (27/35) lower right. Reference: Laboureur 186, second state (of 2), from the edition of 35. In very good condition, the full sheet with wide margins (remains of prior hinging verso), printed on a cream wove Van Gelder Zonen paper (with the watermark), 4 5/8 x 4 7/8, the sheet 10 7/8 x 8 3/4 inches.

Provenance: Galerie Marcel Lecompte (Paris, with his pencil mark);  Colnaghi (London, with their stock number C.68527)

A fine sharp impression printed in black ink.

A superb example of Laboureur’s utilization of engraving within his cubist idiom.

The second state, before the polka dots in the dress

Jean-Emile Laboureur (1877-1943), La Porte de L’Estaminet, etching and roulette, 1925, the preliminary drawing, the etching in the second state (of 3), and the etching in the third state (of 3).  Sylvain Laboureur 294; total impressions printed 85. The third state impression is inscribed “imp” lower left and numbered (54/65), also signed lower left, and titled lower in the margin. The second state impression is signed and numbered 7/7. The drawing is initialed in pencil lower right.  Each impression and the drawing in good condition.  Plate size for the prints: 5 7/8 x 3 3/4 inches, each with wide margins. The drawing is 6 x 3 3/4 inches (the sheet 6 5/8 x 4 5/8 inches). The second and third state impressions are on a cream wove paper, the drawing is on a yellow tracing paper.

Provenance for the second state impression and drawing: Henri Petiet Collection (initials stamp verso; this stamp not in Lugt;  cf Lugt 2021a).

In La Porte de L’Estaminet Laboureur introduces a very fine roulette tint for shading around the head of the girl, around the windows, and in the tiles and spaces just behind the girl.

The drawing is a shade higher than the print; the artist draws the last letters of the word “Estaminet” nearly completely in the drawing, but cuts the tops of the letters in the print. He also shaves some of the right hand area shown in the drawing from the print.

La Porte de L’Estaminet is surely one of Laboureur’s most successful and charming small compositions.

$6000 for set of 3; $1400 for an impression of state 3 alone.

The third state, with the polka dots in the dress.

The drawing (without the polka dots!)

Jean-Emile Laboureur (1877-1943), La Fille au Litre (Grande Planche), engraving, 1921, signed in pencil lower left and inscribed “ep d’art”. Reference: Sylvain Laboureur 217, third state (of 3), the trial proof (or one of the five impressions “hors-tirage”, the edition was 65. In excellent condition, remains of prior hinging verso, printed on a cream wove paper with full margins, 8 3/8 x 7 1/8, the sheet 12 3/4 x 9 3/4 inches.

A fine impression.

Perhaps Laboureur’s most famous engraved portrait,  made in his incomparable cubist manner, and a stunning example of his use of engraving within his mature cubism phase.  He was apparently inspired by a photograph by Eugene Atget (Md. de vin rue Boyer 262, 1908).

$3500

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