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Noces
from Réincarnations
du Père Ubu
Chapon &
Rouault 24c
etching and aquatint, 1918, on medium-weight cream Japon paper,
the 3rd state (of 4), a superb trial proof impression before
the 1928 reworking and before the first Vollard edition of 1932,
with very wide margins, some slight overall light (or time?)
staining and soiling, a few handling creases well away from the
subject, otherwise in very good condition
P. 240x160mm., S. 366x262mm.
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Rouault's first systematic
and meticulously demanding attempt at printmaking, the illustration
of Réincarnations du Père Ubu was a project
undertaken by Ambroise Vollard in 1918 on a theme loosely derived
from Alfred Jarry's work; initially entitled Ubu aux Colonies
and even Noir et Blanc, based on Vollard's experiences
in his native Reunion, it remained unpublished until much later,
after Rouault definitively reworked the plates in 1928.
As Chapon (1978: I, 64)
notes, "Rouault's engravings portrayed a far more powerful
world than the caricatural political community presented by Vollard."
This particular print is one of the most forcefully poignant in
the series, and the present impression is of an exceptional refinement
when compared to those pulled for the edition.
The size of the initial
1918-1919 print run (which was only discovered after Vollard's
death) is unknown, especially as the "circumstances of the
war" led to the destruction of a certain number of the proofs,
but appears to be quite limited.
