40. Auguste Lepère
(1849-1918)

Dimanche aux Fortifs (Sunday at the Fortifications)

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Lepère, Dimanche aux Fortifs

Dimanche aux Fortifs (Sunday at the Fortifications)

Woodcut, 1898, Texier-Bernier 506 i/?, 304 x 337 mm. Very good, if slightly dry, impression of the key block only on laid paper with full margins, signed in pencil. The order of printings of this woodcut is quite complicated and Texier-Bernier has not worked it out at all successfully. But if one thing at all is clear, it is that this is the true first state of the print, showing the full and incompletely-cut key block. Among the things missed by T-B is that the woman at the left faces to the left. In succeeding states the block has been re-cut, she is a different woman and faces to the right. The girl holding her hand and facing front is Lepère’s daughter Suzanne. The fortifs were the old fortifications of Paris, which proved essentially useless as a defense but became a popular place for Sunday outings. This first state of the print is quite rare.

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