Jacques Villon - Two Signed Watercolors On Lithographic Backgrounds For Les Bucoliques

TWO LARGE SIGNED AQUARELLES ON LITHOGRAPHIC BACKGROUNDS TO ILLUSTRATE VIRGIL'S BUCOLIQUES.

Rare preparatory work for the monumental edition of Virgil's Bucoliques translated by Paul Valery during the years 1942-1944 for the "Scripta et Picta" Society and established by Doctor A. Roudinesco in 1955.

The present watercolors, in the format of an unfolded double page, correspond to one of the very first stages of the illustration work. After imposing a lithographic background in black (note the markings for setting the stones, which will later disappear), Villon fully colored the plates in order to explore the future colors he would use on the lithographic stones. These original color settings are different from the final lithographic result chosen for the book.

The book will make it clear that "The images were drawn on stone in color by Jacques Villon, who engraved each color on a different stone with his own hand. Three hundred and twenty stones were used. The printing of the lithographs was done by Célestin on the presses of Mourlot Frères."

The final plates correspond to numbers E 571 and E 577 in the Catalogue Raisonné, Jacques Villon: Les Estampes et les Illustrations, Ginestet & Poullon.

End marks insolated without damage to images.