John William WATERHOUSE | Study for boreas, 1904

Jw waterhouse solo

(1849 - 1917)

English Painter - Victorian Age
One of the great master of the neoclassical, pre-raphaelite and symbolist english movement.

LITHOGRAPH | The Girl of The Wind, 1904 (Study for Boreas)

Handsigned & numbered edition at 50 ex.
From the original drawing of John William Waterhouse
For the first time in the world in lithograph.

This drawing, one of John William Waterhouse's most famous, has always been shown partially cut.
Some old photographic documents prove otherwise.
This lithograph offers it for the 1st time in its entirety, as Waterhouse drew it in 1904.

From the drawing to its printing, this lithograph has been entirely realized by hand.
With the same technical and artistic constraints, the same moves are made on the very same period machines. Drawing on stone, printing colour by colour on "Marinoni Voirin" lithographic flat press of 1920

Title : "The girl of the wind, 1904 (Study for Boreas)
Technique : Lithograpy
Date of edition : 2015
Publisher : FRANCE ART DIFFUSION
Lithography workshop : Atelier A Fleur de Pierre (Paris)
Lithographer : Etienne de Champfleury
Chromist : Jean-Pierre Stholl
Size : 31,9x24,4 inches / 81x62 cm
Paper : BFK Rives 270g
Justification : Hand-signed & numbered in pencil by the lithographer, the Chromist & the publisher
Dry stamp of the publisher
Certificate of authenticity

^{_{Removal of matrices after printing :}}
Once the printing of the lithograph is finished, we guarantee the destruction of matrices.
Its printing is made only once, with the number of expected editions.

THE LITHOGRAPH : A GOOD TURN FOR AN EXCEPTIONAL DRAWING

Even if John William Waterhouse was one the greater painters of the Victorian period, surprisingly enough not one of his artworks has ever been produced into a lithography before this one.

Nowadays the art-work from Waterhouse has been reproduced to excess : in all the shapes, all the colours, and by using all the modern printing processes.

It is just a kind of “copy/paste” without feeling, and showing no consideration for the artist and his work.

J.W Waterhouse deserved better, much better.

Turning to the lithograph is a way to reconcile the original art work and its reproduction so that Waterhouse would have liked it ; it is a way to go to the heart of his inspiration with the same moves, and with the very same period machines.

It is to see to it that this lithograph belongs to him, so that it may be a link between him and us.

KIND REMINDER ABOUT THE LITHOGRAPHY

Please note that a litho is not a poster or just another art reproduction. When designing a litho, strict technical and artistic standard requirements should be fulfilled.

However, a lot of basic and common reproductions are suddenly becoming lithographs without having the relevant quality. Adapted to fit any case, the word « lithograph » is nowadays used in an attempt to justify, to give credit and therefore to deceive a not well-informed buyer.

Invented at the end of the 18th Century, this technique is indeed a good means of reproduction but above all, it is a creation work.

To take a colourful example, this technique means quite a lot to the reproduction of drawings or paintings as much as the Roll-Royce company means to the car industry or Louis VUITTON to the fine leatherwork.

This is not a matter a chance if all the world’s greatest painters have adopted this technique.

The lithograph is fully hand-made such as a drawing or a painting (lines, shades and colours are drawn in the stone before being hand-printed on the lithographic hand-press).

By this way, the artistic process is preserved whereas it is upset when using the modern printing means that are eventually a simple “copy/paste” without feeling.

You must have understood by now …the lithograph is infinitely more than just a reproduction. Its exceptional design is a masterpiece in its own right.