Papillons, Pl. 20
Twentieth plate of album with 20 pochoir pattern plates, titled "Papillons: vingt planches en phototypie coloriées au patron donnant 81 papillons et 16 compositions décoratives" (Butterflies: twenty plates with colored phototypes with patterns with 81 butterflies and 16 decorative compositions), created by Emile-Allain Séguy and published in Paris by Tolmer Éditeur, probably in the 1920s. The plate features four abstract ornamental patterns inspired on the natural beauty of butterflies, providing what Séguy considered a successful example of the application of scientific study of insects in artistic creation, resulting in colorful designs likely intended for textiles or wallpapers. The first pattern is made up of semi-abstract butterflies executed with brown, silver, black, and purple, over a green background with semi-abstract, black tree trunks with small, green leaves. The second design is made up of a vertical strip of semi-abstract butterflies, colored with yellow and black, and outlined witu purple, over a green ground with semi-abstract patches. The third design is made up of alternating, overlapping butterfly wings, executed with yellow, light shades of brown, and black. The fourth design is made up of alternating semi-abstract butterflies, colored with brown, gray, silver, cream, yellow, and black, over a bluish-gray ground with interlacing branches with leaves, colored with black and outlined with blue.
Artwork Details
- Title: Papillons, Pl. 20
- Designer: Designed by Emile-Allain Séguy (French, 1877–1951)
- Publisher: Published by Tolmer Editeur , Paris
- Date: [ca. 1920–29]
- Medium: Lithograph and pochoir
- Dimensions: Sheet: 17 9/16 × 12 1/2 in. (44.6 × 31.8 cm)
Album: 18 1/8 × 13 1/8 × 9/16 in. (46 × 33.4 × 1.5 cm) - Classifications: Books, Prints, Ornament & Architecture
- Credit Line: Rogers Fund, 1925, transferred from the Library
- Object Number: 1991.1073.41(20)
- Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints
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