Artwork Page for The Breaking Waves, Tide of September 1901

Details / Information for The Breaking Waves, Tide of September 1901

The Breaking Waves, Tide of September 1901

1901

Auguste Louis Lepère

(French, 1849–1918)
Culture
France, early 20th Century
Medium
color woodcut
Credit Line
Mr. and Mrs. Charles G. Prasse Collection 1949.526
Catalogue raisonné
Lotz-Brissonneau 274; Le Blanc 274, state II/II
State
II/II
Public Domain
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Location
Not on view
Print

Description

In the 1880s, Lepère was an early exponent of the woodcut as a fine art medium, experimenting with the technique and exhibiting his prints. His example probably encouraged Henri Rivière to produce woodcuts in the Japanese manner (see Wave in the Rain). In fact, Lepère and Rivière created the first French color woodcuts conceived and printed entirely in imitation of Japanese woodcut techniques. By 1890, woodcut would be taken up by the sculptor Aristide Maillol and such painters as Félix Vallotton and Paul Gauguin, and by 1895, a full-scale revival was underway.
A horizontally oriented color woodcut uses layered planes of tan, gray, and brown to depict a churning seascape. Carved lines define white waves crashing toward the shore. In the lower left, three dark figures huddle in a black boat amidst the surf. Patterns of white foam sprawl across the sandy foreground. Toward the top, the sea recedes to a high horizon under a flat, gray sky. A capital "A" marks the lower left corner.

The Breaking Waves, Tide of September 1901

1901

Auguste Louis Lepère

(French, 1849–1918)
France, early 20th Century

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