Original Salvador Dalí engraving "Le Coche et la Mouche" (The Coach and the Fly) from Suite Le Bestiaire de La Fontaine (1974), hand-signed in pencil and hand-colored with watercolor (Pochoir).
1900 out of 3000 prints of "La Bestière de La Fontaine" on Arches were destroyed in a fire. Dali authorized restrikes to replace them (The Official Catalog of The Graphic Works of Salvador Dali by Albert Field, page 237). In 1980, the infinity symbol was added to the watermark of Arches paper.
La Fontaine's Fables are a collection of moral stories written by the French poet Jean de La Fontaine in the 17th century. He used anthropomorphized animals to convey life and ethics lessons through short, allegorical stories, with a witty style and poetic language that made them classics of literature.
• Drypoint etching with hand coloring in watercolor (Pochoir)
• Hand-signed in pencil at lower right. There are differing opinions on whether Dalí signed the edition himself after the fire, in which 2/3 of the edition on Arches paper were lost. The author of the catalog raisonné, Albert Field, believes that it was impossible due to Dalí's health condition.
• Limited edition of 250 copies on Arches paper with infinity watermark, annotated 225/250, with wide margins.
• Size: 22,8 x 15,7 in (58 x 40 cm)
sheet 29.9 x 22,4 in (76 X 57 cm)
• Published by Editions des Maîtres Contemporains, Paris
• Printed by Ateliers Rigal, Paris (Intaglio/Pochoir)
• Reference: Michler & Löpsinger n° 662c, The Official Catalog of The Graphic Works of Salvador Dali by Albert Field #74-1 I
• In good condition. Tape along the edges of the sheet on the back.
• Unframed
Pochoir is a French word that means "stencil" and is a method of printing that uses stencils. It's also known as hand coloring or hand illustration. Pochoir is a refined technique for making limited editions of stencil prints.
Pochoir was popular in Europe, particularly France, around the turn of the century and most popular from the late 19th century through the 1930's with its center of activity in Paris. In the 1920's and 30's Art Deco era, the French rejuvenated the color application process of the stencil, bringing color illustration processes for books and prints to new heights.
Pochoir is a very labor intensive and expensive technique, which produces an image that is often indistinguishable from the artist's hand-painted original.
Some pochoir artists include: Salvador Dalí, Sonia Delaunay, Raoul Dufy, and Joan Miró.
