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Fille aux
Gros Seins et Femme Vieille
[Girl with Large Breasts and Old Woman]
Pétridès 24
drypoint
engraving*, 1908, a very fine impression of what Pétridès identifies as the 1st state**, on medium-fine cream laid paper, with the "Ingres"
watermark (lower left corner of the sheet) and the "L'Ecolier/C & F" countermark (in the lower right corner)***, with very wide
margins (i.e. the full sheet), before the 1932 Daragnès edition ***;
the sheet however has been poorly conserved:
some surface soiling, lighstaining and foxing (notably in the upper and
lower margins, though outside of the composition), handling creases,
slight sptted waterstaining (visible in transparency), several small
tears in the margins (notably top and bottom), otherwise
in reasonably good
condition
P. 334 x 294 mm., S. 633 x 482 mm.
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Suzanne Valadon here
eliminates the setting completely, focussing on the figural counterpoint (old/young, dressed/nude,
working/idling, bent-over/outstretched), around three grouped props that
structure the composition (tub, fauteuil and drapery). This proof impression is furthermore cleanly printed, with fine detailed
Pétridès remarks that this state of Fille au Gros Seins et Femme Vieille, which
he identifies with a separate number (E24), precedes steel-facing. (He
refers to the impression in the collection of the Musée Municipale de
Limoges, that is also unsigned.) There are however a number of other fine drypoint retouches that are noticeable...
* See our discussion of Fille au Gros Seins et Femme Vieille, E16, regarding Suzanne Valadon's working technique.
** The full sheet measures 482 x 633 mm., and is of
particular interest insosfar as Suzanne Valadon apparently used this
paper for proofing her prints (e.g. the rare impression of the 1st
state of Ketty s'étirant, before the plate was cut down, sold by Jean-Louis Picard on June 13, 1996, and described thus :
"Vernis
mou et pointe-sèche, en noir bistré, avec teinte de fond, sur vergé
crème, filigrane «L'Ecolier C & F», du premier état avant coupure
du cuivre, très grandes marges."
There was also an equivalent annotated "Epreuve d'Artiste" impression of Ketty s'étirant, sold by Hauswedell & Nolte, Haburg, on June 6, 2012, with the corresponding "Ingres" watermark, described thus:
"Kaltnadelradierung u. Durchdruckverfahren Auf breitrandigem bräunlichem "Ingres"-Bütten."
See our discussion of this paper on under Catherine Nue se Coiffant.
*** This large-format album (Dix-Huit Planches Originales de Suzanne
Valadon, gravées de 1895 à 1910, Daragnes, Paris 1932), with a
preface by Claude Roger-Marx, contained eighteen original prints, and
printed in an edition of 75.
