Description

Winner receives a lot of artwork by well listed French artist Victor Prouvé (1858-1943). The lot consists of 5 different pieces of art and has impeccable provenance from the collection of William Kelly Simpson. The first piece, shown in pictures 1-5, measures roughly 23.75" x 14.25". It is an ink on paper sketch depicting a Japanese scene. Picture 6 is an ink on paper measuring roughly 12.5" x 8.75". The piece is a preliminary sketch for the binding of a book on Japanese art. Picture 7 is small 2.5" x 2" ink on paper sketch. Picture 8 is a variously inscribed piece of paper by the artist measuring roughly 9.75" x 4". The last piece, show in picture 9, is a sepia toned photograph of a Japanese book binding that measures roughly 8.75" x 7". All the pieces are being sold unframed, loosely taped to mount boards. All the pieces are in very good condition with no rips, tears, repairs, foxing, toning, or other major damage. The sepia toned photograph does have some creasing in the bottom left corner. There is age associated wear including slight paper curling, edge wear, and some nicks around the edges on the pieces. Below is some information about the artist, whose auction results include sales up to $17,303. Please feel free to ask us any questions you may have prior to bidding or making an offer. Thank you for checking out our listing. Born into a community of embroidery designers, Victor Prouvé (1858-1943) entered the Nancy Design School and then the Paris Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Cabanel’s studio. Although he resided in Paris until 1902, he was always active in the artistic community in Nancy, and he became the second president of the Ecole de Nancy after the death of Emile Gallé in 1904. Primarily a portrait and landscape painter, he was also a sculptor, engraver, metal and leather worker, provided embroidery and jewelry designs, and collaborated with numerous Ecole de Nancy artists and industrials. He designed several glass and furniture sets for Emile Gallé and created plaster models for Eugène Vallin . He also designed embroidery motifs for Fernard Courteix and Albert Heymann and had statuettes produced by the Mougin brothers , Daum , and Parisian bronze castors. Furthermore, he creates several menus, programs, vignettes, posters, and book covers. His contributions at the Paris and Nancy Salons since 1882 earned him national recognition that results in numerous private and public commissions. He decorated large decorative screens for the community hall in the XI arrondissement municipal building in Paris and the staircase for the Issy-les-Moulineaux town hall. With Emile Friant, Prouvé received a commission for the ceiling of the Meurthe-et-Moselle prefecture and realized twelve medallions symbolizing the twelve months of the year for the city hall of Nancy. He paints the ceiling for the Caisse d’Epargne in Commercy and a large decorative canvas representing several Nancy figures partaking in a Bacchus feast for the La Lorraine brasserie. He revolutionized the art of bookbinding with Camille Martin and bookbinder René Wiener at the Paris Champ-de-Mars Exposition in 1893, which wins for the Ecole the Nancy national and international recognition for the first time. From 1919 to 1940, Victor Prouvé was the director of the Nancy Ecole des Beaux-Arts without having abandoned his fruitful personal career. Some of his work still visible in Nancy includes the twelve medallions symbolizing the twelve months of the year (Hôtel de Ville), the Croix de Bourgogne monument (place de la Croix de Bourgogne) and the sculptures of the Maison du Peuple (rue Drouin). All of our items have been stored in a temperature controlled environment with no pets or smoking allowed. We strive to provide a wide array of artwork, antiques, and collectibles for everyone from the casual collector to other gallery owners. Whether you are a collector or a reseller, we will always try to work with you to the best of our ability to sell you the item you are interested in. We are always adding new treasures to our collection so please feel free to make an offer, as we constantly are turning over our inventory and need to free space up for our newest finds. We will never decline or ignore an offer. We look at every offer and if we don't accept it, we will make a fair counter offer. We took a few months off of Ebay to move our inventory in to a larger space but we are now back, better than ever. Please check our 100% seller feedback to see that we describe our items accurately and take much care in packing our items so they arrive safe and fast. We always offer free shipping within the United States and also offer international shipping at very reasonable rates. 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