L'Estampe originale A Graphic Treasure ALEXANDRE-LOUIS-MARIE CHARPENTIER (French, 1856–1909) Embosssed Blind Stamp, 1893

A new traveling exhibition of an extremely rare, hand-signed, complete portfolio of L’Estampe originale will be available for presentation at museums worldwide for the first time in thirty-five years. The exhibition is being curated by esteemed art historian, Donna Stein, enhanced by her new full-color catalogue raisonné, freshly edited with new essays, updating her 1970 original black and white publication. 

L’Estampe originale, published in France during the mid 1890s, is widely regarded as one of the greatest collaborations in the entire history of printmaking. The portfolio, originally conceived as a celebration of “the original print,” and especially color lithography, features ninety-five works of graphic art by seventy-four influential artists from France, Switzerland, Belgium, England and the United States. 

The visionary Parisian publisher, André Marty, issued and distributed nine quarterly installments of L’Estampe originale from March 1893 to March 1895 in an edition of one hundred. The portfolio is a truly remarkable tribute to printmaking as original and experimental media for a path-breaking generation of revolutionary artists. Nearly every stylistic movement during the second half of the nineteenth century, from Impressionism to Symbolism to the Fin-de-siècle, is represented in this dynamic and eclectic portfolio. 

Among the distinguished painters, sculptors, and printmakers who participated are Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Paul Gauguin, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Camille Pissarro, Paul Signac, Odilon Redon, Auguste Rodin, Henri Fantin-Latour, Félix Bracquemond, Félicien Rops, and Puvis de Chavannes.  Almost all “Les Nabis” contributed prints, including Pierre Bonnard, Maurice Denis, Paul Ranson, Édouard Vuillard, Ker-Xavier Roussel, Félix Vallotton, and Paul Sérusier. The British artists included William Nicholson, Charles Ricketts, Walter Crane and William Rothenstein, while James McNeill Whistler and Joseph Pennell were the only Americans to make the cut.

Of the ninety-five prints gathered in the complete portfolio sixty are lithographs, thirty-three of which are in color. The remaining prints include 26 intaglios, of which twelve are printed in color; six woodcuts; two wood engravings, one of which is in color; and one gypsograph, also in color.

 

The first eight installments consist of ten prints each, of varying sizes, paper, and media, loose in paper wrappers; the final installment includes fourteen prints issued with grey board covers to enclose all nine albums. In addition to the artists’ actual signatures and an edition number, Alexandre Charpentier’s blind stamp depicting a seated nude woman seen from the back holding a drawing board, was embossed on almost every print or mount, centered on a full sheet in the Album de Clôture as well as pasted onto the portfolio cover.

This complete and pristine set of L’Estampe originale, on loan from the collection of Stuart and Beverly Denenberg of Los Angeles, was acquired nearly a decade ago. It is extremely rare. Over the years commercial interests drove the removal of  individual works for sale from 94 of the 100  editions, leaving only 6 portfolios intact, including the Denenberg’s; the other five are in the following museum collections—Bibliothèque Nationale, Pari; the Georgia Museum of Art, Athens, Georgia (formerly from the Karshan Collection); The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; the Mitsubishi Ichigokan Museum, Tokyo (formerly from the Josefowitz Collection); and the Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam (composite set). 

 

Curator Donna Stein is an art historian, curator and critic. She has organized exhibitions in all media, primarily on nineteenth and twentieth century art. She has published over 100 articles and more than 40 books and catalogues related to her curatorial interests, including Cubism, Prints and Modern Illustrated Books, History of Photography, as well as Modern and Contemporary Art. 

Ms. Stein has organized exhibitions throughout the United States including The Museum of Modern Art in New York, The National Gallery, Toledo Museum of Art, The Achenbach Foundation for Graphic Arts, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, Honolulu Museum of Art, Baltimore Museum of Art, Guild Hall of East Hampton, New York among others and for many cultural institutions in Europe and Asia. Her fascinating memoir, The Empress and I: How an Ancient Empire Collected, Rejected, and Rediscovered Modern Art was published by Skira Editore, Milan in 2021. 

 

The exhibition will premiere at the Dixon Gallery & Gardens, Memphis, TN, in the fall of 2025 and be available for booking beginning in 2026. The exhibition is being organized in association with Denenberg Fine Arts, West Hollywood, CA. Tour management by Landau Traveling Exhibitions.

 

CAMILLE MARTIN (French, 1861-1898) "Cover, the second year of L'Estampe original ," 1894 Five-color lithograph

Exhibition Facts Dates Available: Fall 2025 - 2027 Contents:   List of Works 94 framed original prints, Preface by Roger Marx, Text panels, wall labels and one original folder Lecturer Available: Curator, Donna Stein Publications:     A newly updated and revised edition of the L'Estampe originale Catalogue Raisonné Loan Fee:   On Request Insurance:   Exhibitor responsible  Shipping:    Exhibitor responsible  Requirements: 300 – 400 running feet approx. Professional security and environmental conditions Contact: Jeffrey Landau, Director   LANDAU TRAVELING EXHIBITIONS 310-397-3098 - iinfo@a-r-t.com ___________________________________________________________________________________________________ Schedule 2025 October 12, 2025 – January 11, 2026 Dixon Gallery & Gardens Memphis, TN 2026 Feb 1 - September 15 OPEN October 10 – January 3, 2027 Mulva Cultural Center De Pere, WI 2027 Feb 1 - December 31 OPEN ___________________________________________________________________________________________________