Prosper-Alphonse ISAAC: Scheveningen, in The Netherlands
SOLD
Woodcut printed in colors in the Japanese way, 178 x 227 mm. Vabre 151.
Very fine impression printed full margins on laid japan paper, with the small Isaac’s Swastika bottom left and his monogramm bottom right (Lugt 4990).
In good condition.
Boats and crafts feature extensively in Prosper-Alphonse Isaac's œuvre, whether they are French (from Brittany or Pas-De-Calais), Japanese, Dutch or Italian. This interest in boats stems from his passion for Japanese prints : he made the technique and the subjects of Japanese prints his own during his collaboration with Yoshijirô Urushibara (1889-1953), who was a young engraver working for Shimbi Shoin, the famous Tokyo art printer.
Impressions with the background printed in yellow do exist (INHA collection).
Isaac's prints weren't widely distributed and are very rare nowadays.
References: Émilie Vabre, Prosper-Alphonse Isaac (1858-1924), Entre régionalisme et japonisme, University of Paris 1, 2009-2010; Émilie Vabre, « Prosper-Alphonse Isaac (1858-1924), graveur sur bois à la manière japonaise », in Nouvelles de l’estampe, n°237; Japon-Paris-Bretagne, la gravure sur bois en couleurs, exhibition catalogue Musée départemental breton, Quimper, 2012, p. 27 (ill.)