Jean SIGNOVERT (1919–1981) after Georges BRAQUE (1882–1963) - Lot 254

Lot n° 254
Go to lot
Estimation :
500 - 800 EUR
Register for the sale on drouot.com
Jean SIGNOVERT (1919–1981) after Georges BRAQUE (1882–1963) - Lot 254
Jean SIGNOVERT (1919–1981) after Georges BRAQUE (1882–1963) A set of 21 preparatory drawings for engravings, executed by Jean Signovert based on original drawings by Georges Braque, including: *The Chariot*, *Heraclitus of Ephesus*, profiles of women, and studies for the book *Milarepa*. Graphite drawings, sometimes enhanced with color, on tracing paper. Circa 1950. Various dimensions. Stains, wear, and tears. Good overall condition. Provenance: Jean Signovert’s studio, then passed down through the family. An important collection of twenty-one working documents originating directly from Jean Signovert’s studio and reproducing, by tracing, various drawings by Georges Braque. The presence of this collection in Signovert’s studio must be understood within the context of the close collaboration that united the two artists at the turn of the 1950s. Signovert met Braque in 1949 and worked alongside him for about five years. A printmaker particularly sought after for his technical mastery, he did not limit himself to developing his own body of work: using the hand press in his studio, he helped translate and print the engravings of several of the major artists of his time. His collaboration with Braque is notably documented in *Milarepa*, published by Maeght in 1950. The book includes five engravings. This collaboration clearly went beyond a strictly professional relationship: several postcards, photographs, and autographed notes sent by Braque to Signovert—some of which are dated 1951 and 1952—bear witness to the ongoing personal relationship between the two men. The twenty-one tracings presented here are likely intermediate documents from this process of translating the drawing into an engraving. Based on Braque’s compositions, they may have allowed Signovert to reproduce, study, or adapt the original drawing before transferring it to the matrix, as part of his work as the artist’s engraver and printer. Their joint preservation in Signovert’s studio and, above all, Signovert’s now-documented role in the physical creation of Braque’s engravings lend this collection particular significance: they bear witness to the generally invisible stages of work that separate the artist’s drawing from the finished print. While the precise purpose of some of these 21 tracings is known, the purpose of others has not yet been established. The hypothesis that the tracing (and, by extension, the engraving) related to Heraclitus of Ephesus served as a preparatory study for a frontispiece of a reprint of the eponymous work cannot be ruled out, particularly given the two men’s regular collaboration.
My orders
Sale information
Sales conditions
Return to catalogue