Prints
The graphic arts date back to the Middle Ages, when print technics were
invented in addition to drawing and painting as the only way of
visualizing the world and its people. After photography
revolutionalized the way we see the world and took over the role of
graphic artists as illustrators for the media and books, graphic
technics got back in the hands of visual artists. Many great master
painters of the 20th
century used lithography as their favorate graphic medium, thereby
making art accessible to a greater number of people at more
affordable prices. The collection of prints consists of limited
edition prints and old prints, mostly illustrations dated from the
19th century.
1. Fine limited edition art prints on paper.
[ click here for pictures]
They are produced using engraving techniques such as etching and
lithography. They allow you to have images orinally made by the
great master painters of the world on your wall for a price
affordable to all and a great way to start an art collection. They
are on thick high quality paper and produced and distributed by a
few master printer ateliers in the world. It is recommended to frame
the prints and put them behind glass to protect the artwork from
climatic conditions and other damage.
The following artists are listed with a short introduction and a number
of pictures. When you click on the picture you will get a caption with
information like title, medium, edition and size.
The addition "(after)" after the name of the artist means that the image is after the original artwork (engraving or painting) and produced by master printer ateliers during the life of the artist or later with permission of the artist or heirs.
1.1 MARC CHAGALL (1887-1985)
Marc Chagall was born in 1887 in Liosno (Russia) and is known for his expressive use of colours in romantic pictures with often floating figures in the sky against diffcerent backgrounds. He visited Paris in 1910 but returned to Russia during the revolution and went back to Paris only in 1920. He was commissioned to illustrate the bible and visited the Middle East. Being a jew, he left France for the U.S. in 1941 taking most of his paintings, but returned to France after the end of the war. He gained much appreciation also for his work on ceramics and glass painting for churches. Marc Chagall is regarded one of the most important visual artists of the twentieth century.
1.2 SALVADOR DALI (1904-1989)
Salvador Dali born in 1904 in Figueras (Spain), became the most popular and influential exponent of the surrealist movement which flourished in the early 20 th century. Surrealism aimed at expressing imaginative dreams and visions free from conscious control. Surrealist artists sought to channel the unconscious as a means to unlock the power of imagination. Dali connected a naturalistic style of painting with a bizar fantasy often compared with hallucinations. Dali's flamboyant personality attracted world wide attention and he gained a large following among collectors. Lithographs after his paintings have contributed to the access, knowledge and popularity of his work.
1.3 JOAN MIRO (1893-1983)
Born in Barcelona (Spain) in 1893, Miro ranks as one of the most popular figures of 20 th century art in Europe. First as a painter and in the latter half of his career as a print maker. After 1947 his favorite medium became lithography with a very distinct style of abstract expression, often using calligraphy with his imagery, influenced by Chinese and Japanese scrolls. Miro regarded easel painting too elitist and by producing large editions of his lithographs, sometimes in the thousands and not numbered, he aimed to reach a large audience at affordable prices.
1.4 PABLO PICASSO (1881-1973)
Picasso born in Malaga (Spain)
at 1881, is regarded as the greatest painter and print maker of the
20th century. Each style of drawing he mastered, whether on canvas
(painting), paper, zinc (etching), stone (lithograph) or other medium.
Subjects included his customary themes:
nudes, bulls, children and animals (the famous doves). Some of the designs, like Francoise, Woman
in an armchair, or the Painter with his model, were produced in many
variations and mediums. The sizable oeuvre of lithographs Ii the
years after 1945 is remarkable for its technical and thematic
diversity. Picasso is certainly a master of expression, drawing in simple lines such beautiful pictures. No wonder his work is much in demand.
1.5 PIERRE AUGUSTE RENOIR (1841-1919)
Born in Limoges France, Renoir is maybe the most popular French "impressionist" painter. He created with his colourful palet attractive boulevard scenes, landscapes, portraits and nudes and became a widely respected and popular painter. Early 1919, in the year of his death, Renoir was bestowed the "Legion d'Honneur" (Commander) as recognition for his contribution to the arts in France.
1.6 WILLEM DE KOONING (1904-1997)
Willem de Kooning born in 1904 in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, was a Dutch-American abstract "expressionist" artist. At the age of 22 he reached by boat, as a stowaway the US, and finally settled in NY. In 1961 he became an American citizen. After working several years in commercial arts, he startede his painting career in the 1930's and became famous in the 1940's for his abstract depiction of woman. His art works are today amomng the most valuable at the international art market.
1.7 ANDY WARHOL (1928-1987)
Andy Warhol was born in 1928 in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, USA to Czechoslowakian parents. He started a successful career in commercial illustrating. In the early 1950's he decided to become a serious artist. Challenging the idealist visions and emotions conveyed by abstraction, Warhol embraced popular culture and commercial processes to produce work that appealed to the general public. He was one of the founding fathers of the Pop Art movement. His constant experimentation with subjects and media made him a pioneer in almost all forms of visual art. His unconventional style and his celebrity entourage gave him a mega- star status and a lot of media attention.
1.8 LEONOR FINI (1907-1996)
Leonor Fini was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina and moved to Italy with her Italian mother, where she was raised. In the early1930's she moved to Paris where she became part of the pre-war generation of artists like Max Ernst, Picasso and Dali. Without a formal artistic training she became a painter, printmaker, illustrator, designer and author of 4 books. She was regarded as a member of the "surrealist" movement and a supporter of feminism.
1.9 MAURICE ESTEVE (1904-2001)
Maurice Esteve was a French painter who moved away from realism in 1928 and was influenced by Leger, Matisse and Bonnard. He worked as an assistant to Robert Delaunay on huge decorative panels for the 1937 Paris International Exhibition. Esteve took part in the Venice Biennale in 1954 and in the Documenta (Kassel) in 1959. In 1970 he received the "Grand Prix National des Arts". His paintings and lithographs can be characterized as lyrical abstraction with the aim of depicting form and colour with an almost poetic attitude.
1.10 BRAM VAN VELDE (1895-1981)
Bram van Velde was born in Zoeterwoude, the Netherlands and became like his younger brother Geer van Velde successful painters after they moved to Paris, Bram in 1924 en Geer in 1926. With time Bram developed his "abstract expressionistic" style and gained recognition with expositions in Paris, NY, Geneve, Sao Paolo, and Amsterdam.
1.11 SONIA DELAUNAY (1885-1979)
Sonia Delaunay was born in the Ukraine as Sonia Terk. She moved to Paris and married the wellknown French painter Robert Delaunay in 1910. She developed her own abstract style of painting. She is also known as a decorator and designer. She participated in the Paris International Exhibition in 1937. Sonia was the first living female artist to have a retrospective exhibition at the Louvre in Paris in 1964.
1.12 ANTONIO SAURA (1930-1998)
Antonio Saura was born in Huesca, Spain. He developed a surrealistic style of painting in Paris but after his return to Spain became a follower of abstract expressionism. Saura is regarded as one of the most important post-war modernist painters emerging in Spain in the 1950's.
1.13 AMANDINE DORE (1912-2011)
Amandine Dore and Madame were the pseudonymes of Odette Bonne, a French painter and illustrator among others of erotic and pornographic scenes. She lived with her husband a couple of years in Tahiti before returning to Paris continuing her artistic career.
1.14 MIETJE BOONEN (1939)
Mietje Boonen, a painter, illustrator and graphic artist, was born in Kinrooi, Belgium. She studied fashion and fine arts in Antwerp, Belgium but decided to focus on painting 1972 onwards. She paints dreamy, poetic female figures, sometimes in a slightly erotic aftmosphere. She painted decors for the "Crazy Horse de Paris" in 1979. She exhibited in Europe, Canada and the US.
1.15 KEES VAN DONGEN (1877-1968)
Kees van Dongen was born in Delftshaven, the Netherlands in 1877 and studied at the Art Academy in Rotterdam. He went to Paris in 1897 and spent most of his life in France, but visited Germany, Spain, Italy and Marocco. He was ispired by Matisse and many of his paintings and prints show almond eyed women and bourgeois leisure scenes in a strong, vibrant and colourful style which was well received in the early 1900's. He was also a popular illustrator of books like the "Thousand and One Nights".
2. Old Graphics [ click here for pictures]
These are illustrations on paper at the time photography was not yet invented. Graphic artists performed the job photographers perform today and developed drawing skills unmatched by contempory visual artists. The collection consists of pictures of Asia, in particular China, Japan, India, and ASEAN in the old days, Europe, paintings and maps. Some graphics date back to the 17thcentury.