Les Vingt Ans Fier (The Wild Twenty Years)

Jacques Villon (1875-1963), Les Vingt Ans Fier (The Wild Twenty Years), etching and drypoint, 1931, signed in pencil lower right and annotated “e p d’artiste 10/0 (also signed in the plate). Ginestet and Pouillon 337, third state (of 3), a proof impression outside of the edition of 50. In very good condition, slight discoloration at bottom and top margin edges, printed with full margins on a cream BFK Rives wove paper, with deckle edges, 5 7/8 x 8 3/8, the sheet 9 7/8 x 12 7/8 inches.

A fine impression.

Les Vingt Ans Fier is based on lines from a poem by Francis Vielé-Griffin  (published in a volume called La Partenza, 1899), in which the author takes leave of his youth, muses on his past,  moves through a period of despair and hints of future joys.