Georges Rouault

GEORGES ROUAULT (Paris, 1871 - 1958).
"Pierrot". Published in L'Âme du Cirque : Moralité couronnée par l'Académie Française.1924.
Facsimile on paper. Current print run of 403 copies.
Enclosed photocopy with justification of the print run.
Framed with museum glass.
Measurements: 35 x 27 cm; 50 x 42 cm (frame).
Rouault found in the figures of the circus and the theater a recurrent motive through which to deepen in the human condition. Under his brushes, clowns and actors transcend their scenic appearance to reveal an intense charge of pain, tenderness and spirituality, in an emotional exploration that closely dialogues with the expressive force of his religious themes. Painter, lithographer and watercolorist, Georges Rouault was a leading representative of Fauvism and Expressionism. He studied with Gustave Moreau, and became his favorite pupil. He also met Matisse, Marquet, Manguin and Camoin, approaching Fauvism, and in 1895 he began to make his work known through important public exhibitions, including the Salon d'Automne.
L'Âme du Cirque : Moralité couronnée par l'Académie Française is a 1924 French illustrated publication that celebrates the magic and imagery of the circus through a text by Louise Hervieu accompanied by works by some of the most influential artists of the early 20th century. It is not a magazine in the modern sense, but an illustrated book in folio format published by Librairie de France in Paris, with a limited print run and highly prized by art historians and collectors.