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Original 1927 Print by GeorgesLepape: Art Deco: \'Le Tenebre\'. Pochoir by Saude, 1 of 230.
Artist: Georges Lepape
- Pochoir:Jean Saudé
- Printing: R. Coulouma (Argenteuil)
- Publisher: Société d\'Édition \"Le Livre,\" Paris (July 15, 1927)
- Edition: Single limited edition of 230 total copies
- Sheet Size: 6.25 x 9.25 inches
- Condition: Minor wear at edges.
This print originated from Décors et costumes pour L\'Oiseau Bleu—a 1927 volume of Lepape\'s costume and theater art that was limited to 230 copies. It stands as a holy grail of Art Deco theater design.
This print offers a detailed rendering of Georges Lepape’s original watercolor studies for the Théâtre Mogador production of the play (by Maeterlinck). In a collaboration between Lepape, printing press and pochoir studio, printer Coulouma first pulled the line work—capturing Lepape\'s light graphite guidelines, marginal pencil notations, paper-securing pinpricks, and subtle background thumbing, smudges and stray ink to reveal the anatomy of the artist\'s working process.
Master enlumineur Jean Saudé then built the color over Lepape\'s line work using pure watercolor (aquarelle) and opaque gouache. For an edition of 230 copies, Saudé and his artisans brushed each layer of pigment onto every sheet individually—repeating the entire hand-cut zinc stencil sequence 230 separate times for this each print in the volume.
Le Tenebre representsthe phantoms of Darkness and the Shadows -- creatures of pure obscurity. Lepape renders Darkness as an elongated, statuesque nocturnal spirit clad in a sheer, floor-length pleated veil of charcoal shadow that hangs from the shoulders like funeral crapeSaudé’s stencil captures the figure of Le Tenebrein a striking monochrome balance of deep ultramarine blue, midnight ink tones, and smoky charcoal washes,directly over the transferred line art and gray background wash.Precise stencil linework articulates the sheer, transparent quality of the sweeping garment, contrasted with rich gouache density across the figure\'s body and dark mass of hair.
The Artist: Georges Lepape
A core figure of the École de Paris, Georges Lepape transformed early 20th-century illustration with bold, architectural line work and radical spatial compositions. Trained at the École des Beaux-Arts, Lepape first came to international prominence through his landmark 1911 collaboration with couturier Paul Poiret (Les Choses de Paul Poiret), a publication that effectively launched the visual language of Art Deco.
Throughout the 1920s, Lepape was the premier cover artist for Condé Nast’s Vogue, defining the iconic \"Lepape woman\"—elongated, theatrical, and stylized. His work for Maurice Maeterlinck\'s L\'Oiseau Bleu at the Théâtre Mogador marked the peak of his theatrical career, translating his high-fashion sensibility into a complete, immersive visual world on stage.
Pochoir Master: Jean Saudé
Jean Saudé stands as the master of early 20th-century enluminure au pochoir. Before executing L\'Oiseau Bleu, Saudé was the primary colorist for the legendary Gazette du Bon Ton, working alongside Georges Lepape, Charles Martin, and George Barbier during the formative years of Art Deco fashion publishing.
In his 1925 treatise Traité d’enluminure d’art au pochoir, Saudé documented the immense labor and techniques and tools required for this near-extinct art. Each color required a custom hand-cut zinc stencil (découpure) and was individually applied by hand using specialized coarse brushes (pompons). The process represented a brief, highly labor-intensive window in French fine-art publishing—a period when master colorists brought pure watercolor and gouache directly to the printed page before commercial offset methods permanently altered the trade.
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