Laguna Fine Art - Toulouse-Lautrec & The Masters of La Belle Epoque

Title: Le Pocharde
Artist: Louis Auguste Mathieu Legrand
Category: Belle Epoque
Medium: Drypoint
Framed: Yes
Height: 5 3/4"
Width: 8 3/16"

Original drypoint printed in black ink on cream laid paper bearing the “Pellet et Legrand” watermark. From the edition of 65, showing rich burr, numbered “59/65” in pencil also lower right (apart from the edition of 30 with the added remarque). One of eight plates from the album Les Bars, published by Gustave Pellet, Paris, with his monogram stamp [Lugt 1193] in red ink at the lower right corner of the plate. In excellent condition, printed on a sheet with wide margins.

Artist Bio: Louis Legrand was born in Dijon, France on September 29, 1863. His desire to become an artist was such that he studied at the Dijon Ecole des Beaux Arts in his spare time and in the evenings while working as a bank teller. At the age of twenty he won the Devosge prize at that school and a year later left for Paris. Soon after his arrival in Paris he began to study etching and engraving techniques with Félicien Rops. His first commission was four etchings for Les Premières Illustres in 1884, a publication that Steinlan and Willette later also contributed. In 1885 he completed eight etchings for a novel by Joseph Gayda, Ce Brigand D'amour. This was the beginning of a long apprenticeship as an illustrator where he lived mostly on revenues from drawings executed for children's pulp magazines.

In 1887 he joined the Courrier Francais. He contributed a drawing to each weekly issue alongside other artists such as Forain , Willette, Henri Pille and Heidbrink. This publication expected drawings with cynical humor and erotic overtones. Legrand supplied powerful drawings with strong, harsh lines emphasizing the death and disease that awaited prostitutes and their clients. His drawings were rarely funny. Legrand portrayed prostitutes and peasants. Political comment flowed from many of the drawings. Two of his drawings, one called Prostitution and the other a satirical drawing on the naturalism of Emile Zola, caused Legrand to be charged with obscenity. He was defended by EugËne RodriguËs, a lawyer who was also his friend. Legrand was acquitted, but the public prosecutor appealed and Legrand was found guilty. He refused to pay the fine and was incarcerated for a brief time. The time he spent in jail convinced him that satirical journalism was not the life for him.

In May of 1891 Legrand gained instant celebrity when his watercolors of music-hall dancers were used to illustrate a commentary by RodriguËs on the cancan and its principal exponents. The Gil Blas magazine published an illustrated supplement, the Gil Blas IllustrÈ, which devoted its first two issues to the RodriguËs text with illustrations in color by Legrand. An unprecedented 60,000 copies sold out immediately. The publisher Dentu persuaded Legrand to etch the compositions and in 1892 these appeared in a book titled Le Cours de Danse Fin de SiËcle ( Turn of the Century Dance Classes) with a revised text by RodriguËs. A trip to Brittany signaled Legrand's break with his Courrier FranÁais past. On his return from Brittany he created fourteen lithographs inspired by his visit. He portrayed Breton fishermen, peasants and daily life at the marketplace. These works were published by Gustave Pellet. This was the beginning of a collaboration between the artist and publisher resulting in some 300 works. Pellet was to become Legrand's lifelong friend and publisher. Gustave Pellet came from a wealthy family. When a financial crash in 1886 made it necessary for Pellet to earn a living he opened a bookstore. He decided to diversify into pictures and graphics and to publish original prints. His first artist was Louis Legrand. Pellet became a successful publisher and an avid collector. Legrand was his favorite. It's said the only place to see Legrand's pastels was in Pellet's collection. Pellet was the publisher of many of Lautrec's finest prints as well as those of Odilon Redon, Alexandre Lunois, Charles Maurin, Rops, and Signac.

After completing his series on the cancan Legrand turned to the ballet. He created aquatints, drawings and pastels as well as two major volumes. The first, Les Petites du Ballet (The Little Ones of the Ballet), was published in 1893 and consisted of thirteen aquatints and a cover. These showed the evolution of the young dancers, from their first lessons; through the friendships forged and the hard exercise; to an appearance in an imaginary ballet. The second of these albums, Le Petite Classe, appeared in 1908. It consisted of twelve large plates and a cover. These works dealt with the actual performers in rehearsal, unwinding before a performance, flirting, going to class, becoming a prima ballerina and finally, making an entrance on stage. Legrand never drew an actual performance. It was the effort behind the performance that intrigued Legrand.

In 1896 Legrand's first major one-man show comprising two hundred of his works was held at Samuel Bing's L'Art Nouveau gallery. In 1900 at the Universal Exhibition in Paris Legrand was awarded the Silver Medal. In 1904 his second important one-man show was held at the Galerie Georges Petit where he exhibited paintings, pastels, drawings and forty-nine etchings. Two years later he was awarded the LÈgion d'Honneur. A major retrospective exhibition was held in 1911 with his complete graphic works shown at the Palais des Modes and paintings, pastels and drawings being exhibited at the Durand-Ruel Gallery. During this time a vast number of articles were written praising his art and in 1908 the magazine L'Art et le Beau (Art and Beauty) devoted a complete issue to him. In 1910 Camille Mauclair published a two hundred and seventy-four page monograph on Legrand which included a summary list of his graphic works to date.

The years following the war of 1914-1918 Legrand withdrew into his family and country life. He created a few etchings for a couple of books in the 1920's. His last major endeavor was a series of forty-six etchings, aquatints, and drawings to accompany Francis Caro's work entitled Elles. This was published in 1931. The Depression was taking its toll and the days of the limited edition book were gone. Legrand survived WWII and in 1951 died at Livrey-Gargan in total obscurity.

We are familiar with the scenes of Parisian nightlife through the works of Lautrec and other well-known artists. Lautrec's brief and turbulent life created a legend surrounding his art. But it is important to know that Legrand preceded Lautrec and others in publishing works that portrayed the cancan dancers and the demimonde of Montmarte. Prior to WWI, during the most productive part of his career, Legrand achieved wide recognition. Perhaps the long period of inactivity before his death and changing tastes obscure his achievements. It is only through rediscovery and a renewed appreciation of the works of the Belle Epoque that we are able to truly understand the important contributions of Louis Legrand.

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