Paul COLIN (1892 - 1985). Claude Lorrain's house,... Lot 11

Paul COLIN (1892 - 1985). Claude Lorrain's house, Chamagne (Vosges). Wood engraving, signed lower right, numbered 56/60. Frame (not examined outside the frame). Dimensions: 25.7 x 31cm. Sheet : 33,5 x 45cm. Provenance: Estate of Monsieur Louis Thirion, furniture in the mansion built in 1923 by Gibert et Ogé, which has remained in the family ever since. Expert : Madame Sylvie COLLIGNON. Painter and engraver, he was born in Lunéville in 1867 and died in Bourg la Reine in 1949. Attracted to drawing from an early age, Paul-Émile Colin nevertheless studied medicine, without abandoning his first passion. A friend of Charles Filiger, Colin joined Gauguin at Pont-Aven in the summer of 1890. From 1893, he perfected the technique of engraving standing wood with a penknife. His works from 1890 to 1900 are marked by the innovations of the Pont-Aven school. In 1894, he moved to Lagny (Seine-et-Marne) to practice medicine - which he abandoned for good in 1901. He then devoted himself to illustrating numerous works: Les Philippe by Jules Renard, La Terre et l'Homme by Anatole France, La Colline inspired by Maurice Barrès... He remained very attached to his Lorraine origins, whose landscapes, villages and inhabitants continue to inspire his work. Colin was one of the founding members of the "Société de la gravure sur bois originale" (S.G.B.O.) in 1911. He was vice-president from 1920 to 1935. Noël Clément-Janin established a repertory of his engravings in 1912. After the First World War, Colin continued his engraving work as an illustrator and devoted more time to painting. From 1920, he traveled to Italy, Sicily, Spain, Portugal and Morocco. These visits inspired his new approach to color. Paul-Émile Colin illustrated numerous works by Émile Zola, Maurice Barrès, Georges Duhamel, Anatole France, Rudyard Kipling, Hippolyte Taine, Jean Yole and others. All these books are illustrated with woodcuts, mainly in black. Only one book was illustrated with woodcuts in color: "Poèmes de France et d'Italie" by Pierre de Nolhac (1923), and only one with watercolors: "Séductions italiennes", by Clément-Janin, in 1929. From 1929 onwards, he would only exceptionally participate in publications by other publishers. He published himself, under the Paul-Emile Colin name, in Bourg-La-Reine. He was a member of the Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts and of the Salon d'Automne, Vice-President of the Société de la Gravure sur Bois originale, and was made a Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur. In its 1907 issue, the "Revue lorraine illustrée", under the pen of Gaston Varenne, published the first study of the artist, who was only at the beginning of his artistic career. pp. 145-156 The same magazine again published a study by G. Varenne, this time on P.E. Colin's pastels, in its 1913 issue, pp. 1-8. Some years later, in 1933, "Le Pays Lorrain" again published an interesting study of the artist, pp. 384-392. Expert : Madame Sylvie COLLIGNON