Pierre-Joseph Redouté Pl. 55 French Rose "Versicolor", Les Roses, 1817–24, stipple engraving
Acquire a superb hand-colored stipple engraving at significant savings this week only, Plate 55 French Rose "Versicolor", Rosa Gallica Versicolor, Rosier de France à fleurs panachees, from Pierre-Joseph Redouté’s renowned monograph, Les Roses (1817–24). Every delicate nuance of this rose's ideal form, color, and texture is edified in Redouté's plate. Stipple engraving finished by hand with exceptional à la poupée color. In perfect condition, folio size, 10.5 x 14.125 inches. Printed by Rémond and engraved by Langlois. An exceptional example of Redouté's legendary stipple technique.
Comprising 169 images, Les Roses was published in 30 parts between 1817 and 1824 and enjoyed immediate success. Redouté, masterfully employed stipple engraving to depict the translucency of the flower petals and portrait-like individuality of each leaf and flower. The intensity of inking and subtlety of coloring all contribute to engravings of unrivaled beauty.
$7,350 this week only (list price $12,000). Offer expires 4-10-17.
Considered to be a French artist, Pierre-Joseph Redouté (1759–1840) was born in the village of Saint-Hubert, now a part of Belgium. The descendant of a long line of painters, he was first trained by his artist father, Charles Joseph Redouté (1715–76). At the age of 15 he left to make a living as an itinerant painter and decorator. In 1782, his elder brother, Antoine Ferdinand Redouté (1756–1809), a highly regarded decorative artist, invited him to join him in Paris. There he began sketching rare plants at the Jardin du Roi. At the Jardin du Roi (now the Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle), his art work was noticed by the Linnaean botanist Charles Louis L’Héritier and Gerard van Spaëndonck, Royal Professor of Painting. Redouté became L’Héritier and van Spaëndonck’s most gifted pupil. Gerard van Spaëndonck is recognized for developing the watercolor technique that Redouté later popularized.
In 1786, Redouté spent a brief period in England where he was introduced to the stipple-engraving technique. Employed at that time primarily for portraiture, it is a process of incising minute depressions in a copper plate forming a field of dots rather than lines. Stipple engraving is sublimely suited to conveying the subtle tonal gradations of watercolors. Redouté, who is credited with perfecting this technique said, “The process which we invented in 1796 for color printing consists in the employment of these colors on a single plate…. We have thereby softness and brilliance of a watercolor.” The dynamic realism he achieved surpassed all previous attempts at color botanical printmaking. In recognition of this valuable contribution, Redouté was awarded a medal by Louis XVIII.
On the eve of the French Revolution, Redouté was named to the position of Draftsman to the Cabinet of Marie Antoinette. Remarkably, he not only survived the Revolution, but attracted the patronage of Josephine Bonaparte in a seamless transition from the royal court to the French Republic. In 1798, Josephine Bonaparte acquired a grand estate, Malmaison, and began to fill its gardens with the rarest plants that the old and new worlds could furnish. Many of the examples depicted in Les Roses are from Josephine Bonaparte’s gardens at Malmaison, as well as from other significant gardens of that time.
For further information or to purchase, please call the gallery at 312-642-5300.