11 - [NABIS].

[NABIS]. Le Barc de Boutteville Catalog. No place, 1893. — Set of 8 sheets, 248 x 157 mm. An extremely rare set of 8 lithographs produced for the catalog of the very first Nabis exhibition. “From October 25 to November 5, 1893, a modest group exhibition took place at the Le Barc de Boutteville gallery, shortly before the Fifth Exhibition of Impressionist and Symbolist Painters. It brought together Pierre Bonnard, Maurice Denis, Henri-Gabriel Ibels, Marc Mouclier, Paul-Élie Ranson, Ker-Xavier Roussel, Paul Sérusier, Félix Vallotton, and Édouard Vuillard. The catalog, consisting of eight loose sheets illustrated with lithographs and bound in a portfolio, has no title or preface and embodies the union of nine individual artists. Lasting twelve days, this first group exhibition marked a turning point and delighted Le Barc de Boutteville, who wrote to Maurice Denis on October 29: “We have many visitors—and above all, interesting visitors. It’s a small but very successful exhibition.” However, the exhibition received little media coverage, and only a few critics reviewed it, offering mixed assessments” (website: https://essentiels.bnf.fr). The Le Barc de Boutteville Gallery was founded by Louis Léon Lebarc (1837–1897), who added the name and title of his wife, Marie-Blanche de Boutteville, to the gallery’s name. It was located at 47 Rue Le Peletier in the ninth arrondissement of Paris and operated from 1891 to 1899. A very complete set of the eight lithographs mentioned above, though without the portfolio. Only about fifty copies are believed to have been printed, and their fragility makes it very difficult today to find complete sets on the market. Each sheet features an illustration and a list of lithographed works by an artist: Maurice Denis, Henri-Gabriel Ibels, Marc Mouclier, Paul-Élie Ranson, Ker-Xavier Roussel, Paul Sérusier, Félix Vallotton, and Édouard Vuillard. The only exception is Pierre Bonnard, who had submitted only two works and was unable to attend the exhibition. He simply wrote the list of his works on the same sheet as the one illustrated by Félix Vallotton Very well-preserved copies. The lithographs by Mouclier, Roussel, and Vallotton bear pencil numbering in the lower right corner: 1/6, 2/6, and 6/6, respectively. Traces of adhesive (from old tabs) on the reverse of the lithographs by Maurice Denis, Ranson, and Vuillard. Minor, insignificant damage to two corners (Maurice Denis and Sérusier).