Antique French Art Deco pochoir print, Le Printemps, c1920, framed

Condition: Print is very good condition. It has not been trimmed but the sheet has been folded to fit the frame. The mount and frame are new and the frame is a simple acrylic glazed standard 16" frame.

This very striking print is numbered 312 of 500 prints.  It is very typical of French pochoir prints of the 1920s.  The age is confirmed by the paper on which the print is made, which is Jules Perrigot Arches MBM, a paper which was used by artists such as Henri Matisse in the early 1920s. The print is titled "Le Printemps" in pencil at the bottom right of the printed sheet (under the frame).

We have not identified the artist but prints in this style and size of edition were made by Jean Saudé, one of the key exponents of Pochoir printing.

Pochoir printing (from the French: “stencil”) is a highly refined technique of making fine limited editions of stencil prints. It is often called hand colouring, or hand illustration. With pochoir printing, the hand application of layers of pigment created dazzling effects that the camera or printing press could never replicate. Artists such as Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse and Joan Miró made prints in this technique for book illustrations. 

Pochoir printing developed in the late 19th century and was used until the 1930s, mainly in Paris.  The technique was highly skilled and labour intensive, and gave way in artistic circle to serigraphy or screen printing.

We have one other print in this series, "L'Automne" also for sale and it would make a nice pair with this print - please enquire for combined shipping etc.