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The Wave (La Vague), from "L'Estampe Originale"

Publisher André Marty French
Printer Edward Ancourt French
1893
Not on view
Rivière here conveys the immediacy of a wave crashing against a rock, its dramatic spray of water expressed by the reserve of the paper—areas where no ink is printed. This work continues a theme the artist explored in his first celebrated series of prints, "La mer, études de vagues" (The Sea, Studies of Waves), from 1890−92, based on his observations of the ocean while visiting the northwest coastal region of Brittany. Directly inspired by his study of Japanese ukiyo-e prints, Rivière later translated the aesthetic of his Japoniste woodcuts into the medium of lithography, as seen here.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: The Wave (La Vague), from "L'Estampe Originale"
  • Series/Portfolio: L'Estampe originale, Album IV
  • Artist: Henri Rivière (French, Paris 1864–1951 Paris)
  • Publisher: André Marty
  • Printer: Edward Ancourt
  • Date: 1893
  • Medium: Lithograph
  • Dimensions: Image: 11 1/2 × 18 1/8 in. (29.2 × 46 cm)
    Sheet: 16 in. × 22 7/16 in. (40.6 × 57 cm)
  • Classification: Prints
  • Credit Line: Rogers Fund, 1922
  • Object Number: 22.82.1-38
  • Rights and Reproduction: © 2026 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
  • Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

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Honus Wagner, Pittsburgh, National League, from the White Border series (T206) for the American Tobacco Company, American Tobacco Company, Commercial lithograph
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Funeral Procession with Umbrellas (L’Enterrement aux Parapluies), Henri Rivière French, Color woodcut from six blocks
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Osage Warrior, Charles Balthazar Julien Févret de Saint-Mémin French, Watercolor and graphite on off-white wove paper, American
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