The Wave (La Vague), from "L'Estampe Originale"
Henri Rivière French
Publisher André Marty French
Printer Edward Ancourt French
Rivière here conveys the immediacy of a wave crashing against a rock, its dramatic spray of water expressed by the reserve of the paper—areas where no ink is printed. This work continues a theme the artist explored in his first celebrated series of prints, "La mer, études de vagues" (The Sea, Studies of Waves), from 1890−92, based on his observations of the ocean while visiting the northwest coastal region of Brittany. Directly inspired by his study of Japanese ukiyo-e prints, Rivière later translated the aesthetic of his Japoniste woodcuts into the medium of lithography, as seen here.
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