Bidspirit auction | Kirchner, Raphael – SET OF

Kirchner, Raphael – SET OF 4 ORIGINAL ENGRAVINGS — ARTIST PROOFS. [Paris]. [c. 1900-1910]. 21,0 cm x 14,0 cm each. - Exceptional set of four original prints, artist proofs, by the celebrated Austrian illustrator Raphael Kirchner, incontrovertible master of Art Nouveau and pioneer of pin-up art who revolutionized European illustration in the late nineteenth and early decades of the twentieth century. Born in Vienna in 1875, Kirchner studied at that city's Academy of Fine Arts before moving to Paris in 1900, where he achieved international fame with his illustrations of elegant feminine figures that personified the spirit of the Belle Époque. The present prints, with the slightly erotic content typical of Kirchner's production, represent scenes of feminine intimacy, with figures engaged in their toilette and moments of private languor, executed with the delicacy and sensuality characteristic of the artist. Two of the prints bear the signed initials ”RK, ” Kirchner's recognized monogram, while the other two carry the full signature ”Raphael Kirchner, ” testament to the authenticity of these works. The nature of these signatures, combined with the quality of printing and the paper used, strongly suggests these are artist proofs, that is, examples from an extremely limited print run produced before the commercial edition, destined for the artist himself or a very restricted circle of connoisseurs. It is important to emphasize that these prints are not postcards, the format by which Kirchner became world famous, having produced over the course of his career more than eight hundred different illustrated postcard designs, of which the celebrated ”Geisha” series sold more than forty thousand copies. The present works, of more refined execution, were destined for an art-collecting public, not for popular postal consumption. This distinction is crucial for assessing the artistic value and rarity of these pieces. Kirchner collaborated with the most prestigious French magazines of his time, including La Vie Parisienne, a libertine publication that celebrated the pleasures of Parisian life and where his illustrations of elegant and daring women found an eager audience. His works, often licentious in content by the standards of the period, circulated in a cosmopolitan and sophisticated milieu, tolerant of representations of feminine sensuality that in other contexts would have been censored. With the outbreak of the First World War in 1914, Kirchner moved to the United States, establishing himself in New York, where he worked as a costume designer for musical theater productions until his death in 1917. Kirchner's influence on the history of erotic illustration and pin-up art is immeasurable. The celebrated Peruvian illustrator Alberto Vargas, who would go on to work for Esquire magazine and become one of the most famous pin-up artists of the twentieth century, explicitly cited Kirchner as his primary inspiration. Kirchner's prints, with their combination of veiled eroticism, Art Nouveau elegance and technical mastery, served as an aesthetic model for subsequent generations of illustrators, consolidating the pin-up tradition that reached its apogee during the Second World War. The four prints present themselves loose, printed on superior quality paper, probably Dutch paper or vellum paper characteristic of artistic print runs. The paper exhibits the natural browning typical of works more than a century old, with slight uniform darkening. Some moisture stains and scattered foxing are detected, more pronounced in certain areas, but which do not compromise appreciation of the images. The margins remain intact, without tears or significant losses. The signatures, executed in graphite pencil as was customary for artistic prints of the period, remain clearly legible. Set of exceptional rarity. Kirchner's artist proofs rarely appear on the market, being eagerly sought after by collectors of Art Nouveau and quality erotic art. The majority of Kirchner's known production corresponds to postcards and magazine illustrations, making these prints of more artistic character true treasures for connoisseurs. The assembly of four signed examples, with two signature variants, constitutes a rare opportunity to acquire a representative set of the graphic work of this European master. Good overall condition. Ex-libris on the box that houses the works. A set of exceptional rarity and universal importance.