Messe en Bretagne (Mass in Brittany), [ca. 1900-1910]

Summary

Title:

Messe en Bretagne (Mass in Brittany)

Dates:

[ca. 1900-1910]

Creators:

Dezaunay, Emile, 1854-1938, Delâtre, Eugène, 1864-1938, and Sagot, Edmond, 1857-1917

Abstract:

The twelve sheets are working proofs of Dezaunay's etching Messe en Bretagne (Mass in Brittany). Included are impressions with notations by the publisher, Edmond Sagot, and by the printer, Eugène Delâtre, as well as proofs from each color plate and proofs from the cancelled plates. The proofs document the process of color printmaking using multiple plates.

Extent:

12 prints

Language:

Collection material is in French.

Preferred citation:

Émile Dezaunay, Messe en Bretagne (Mass in Brittany), [ca. 1900-1910], Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles, Accession no. 2022.PR.19.

http://hdl.handle.net/10020/cifa2022pr19

Background

Scope and content:

Messe en Bretagne (Mass in Brittany) takes place in front of a small church and within the gates of a cemetery. Lively colors and the blue sky suggest warm weather. Women wearing the traditional headdress "Giz Fouen" are seated on a bench, their heads lowered, and their backs turned to the viewer. In the background, at left, two women stand in front of the side door of the church.

The print was based on a watercolor and gouache made by Dezaunay. The twelve working proofs include impressions with notations by the publisher, Edmond Sagot, and by the printer, Eugène Delâtre, as well as proofs from each color plate and proofs from the canceled plates. In one impression from four plates in four colors, there are numerous instructions for the printer, Eugène Delâtre, regarding the color inks. One sheet is a proof before steel facing, another is identified as "Bon à tirer," meaning ready to be printed. In one proof, the printer lists the total number of impressions made from the four plates. The set includes cancellation proofs, a guarantee that no further impressions could be pulled from the plates.

Sources consulted:

Musée départemental, Breton, Quimper, no. 2016.6.1

Grivel, Marianne et al., De Pissarro à Picasso : l'eau-forte en couleurs en France, no. 79

Biographical / historical:

The French painter and printmaker Émile (Émile-Alfred-Marie) Dezaunay was born in Nantes in 1854 into a family of wealthy merchants. His mother was a first cousin of the writer, Jules Verne. He studied at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris under Jules-Élie Delaunay, a painter from Nantes, and under Pierre Puvis de Chavannes. While in Paris, he was initiated to printmaking by Eugène Delâtre. In 1890 he traveled to Pont-Aven with a friend, Maxime Maufra, where they met Paul Gauguin who had a profound influence on their work. Beginning in 1892, he frequented other artists at Maufra's studio at the Bateau Lavoir in Montmartre and later became one of the founding members of the Salon d'Automne. After 1909, he returned to Nantes and lived there until his death in 1938.

The French printmaker and printer Eugène Delâtre, the son of the printer Auguste Delâtre, issued prints by Félix Bracquemond, Auguste Brouet, Paul Gauguin, Henri de Toulouse- Lautrec, Théophile-Alexandre Steinlen, and Pablo Picasso. He played a fundamental role in the development of color etching in late 19th-century France. He used several methods to produce color prints, the à la poupée method in which inks of different colors are applied on a plate using a ball-shaped wad of cloth, and color etching au repérage using multiple plates.

Acquisition information:

Acquired in 2022.

Custodial history:

The working proofs belonged to Edmond Sagot and then to his successor, the firm Sagot-Le Garrec, Paris, whose name is derived from the marriage of Sagot's daughter to Maurice Le Garrec. Later the proofs were acquired by the Galerie Arsène Bonafous-Murat, Paris, and then by Didier Martinez Estampes, Paris.

Processing information:

Karen Meyer-Roux wrote this finding aid in September 2022.

Arrangement:

The first four proofs are annotated by the publisher, Edmond Sagot, or by the printer, Eugène Delâtre. The other proofs are impressions made from three, two, or one plate.

Physical location:

Request access to the physical materials described in this inventory through the catalog record for this collection. Click here for the access policy.

Rules or conventions:

graphic materials

Related resources

Related material:

Impressions of Dezaunay's Messe en Bretagne (Mass in Brittany), are at:

Musée départemental, Breton, Quimper, no. 2016.6.1

Zimmerli Art Museum, Rutgers, no. 83.010.063

Relating to the 1898 sale of Dezaunay's works, see: Catalogue des tableaux, aquarelles, dessins par E. Dezaunay. Préface d'Arsène Alexandre. Paris, Hôtel Drouot, 25 mars 1898. The preface of the catalogue also gives a lively report of Dezaunay's personality.

Works engraved, printed, or formerly owned by Eugène Delâtre, which are held at the Getty Research Institute, include:

Eugène Delâtre, [Autoportrait dans l'atelier], ca. 1894, Accession no. 2005.PR.29

Eugène Delâtre, [At the Café-Concert], ca. 1895, Accession no. 2012.PR.8

Das Mappenwerk der Insel herausgegeben von Otto Julius Bierbaum, Alfred Walter Heymel und Rudolf Alexander Schröder, 1900. Accession no. 2008.PR.22

Auguste Brouet, L'amateur, [1896], Accession no. 2013.PR.7, 2013.PR.8, 2013.PR.9

Paul Gauguin, [La femme aux figues], 1899, Accession no. 2011.PR.31

Théophile-Alexandre Steinlen, [Gare de l'Est], [1916-1917], Accession no. 2007.PR.33

Théophile-Alexandre Steinlen, [Soldiers in a Trench], [ca. 1917], Accession no. 2007.PR.34

De l'Yser au Vieil Armand : dix eaux-fortes originales par L. Grandgérard. Paris: Imprimerie E. Delâtre, 1916. Accession no. 2008.PR.25

The records of the publisher Edmond Sagot are at the INHA in Paris:

Fonds galerie Sagot-Le Garrec, INHA, Archives 086.

Letters or works published by Edmond Sagot, which are held at the Getty Research Institute, include:

Félix Bracquemond, L'arc-en-ciel (The Rainbow), 1893-1897, Accession no. 2012.PR.24

Helleu, Paul, Ed. Sagot estampes et affiches illustrées 39 bis rue de Châteaudun, Paris,, Accession no. 2001.PR.35

Alphonse-François Lotz-Brissonneau, L'œuvre gravé de Auguste Lepère. Paris : E. Sagot, 1905, ID no. 1560-628

Alphonse-François Lotz-Brissonneau, Nomenclature des gravures sur bois, eaux-fortes et lithographies exécutées à ce jour par J.-E. Laboureur, Nantes ; Paris : Chez Sagot, 1909, ID no. 90-B5220

Edmond Sagot letter to Clément-Janin, 1911 in: Clément-Janin letters received, 1904-1952, Accession no. 860786.

Alternative form available:

The prints were digitized in 2022 and the images are available online: http://hdl.handle.net/10020/2022pr19

Indexed terms

Subjects:

Clothing and dress
Piety
Prints -- Technique
Women -- France -- Brittany
Prints (visual works) -- France -- 20th century
Color prints (prints) -- France -- 20th century
Printers' proofs -- France -- 20th century

Places:

Brittany (France) -- Social life and customs

About this collection guide

Collection Guide Author:

Karen Meyer-Roux

Date Encoded:

This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2025-06-11 07:26:55 -0700 .

Restrictions:

Open for use by qualified researchers.

Preferred citation:

Émile Dezaunay, Messe en Bretagne (Mass in Brittany), [ca. 1900-1910], Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles, Accession no. 2022.PR.19.

http://hdl.handle.net/10020/cifa2022pr19

Location of this collection:

Getty Research Institute, Special Collections

1200 Getty Center Drive, Suite 1100

Los Angeles, CA 90049-1688, US

Contact:

(310) 440-7390

Website