Maison Devambez is the name of a fine printer's firm in Paris. It operated under that name from 1873, when a printing business established by the royal engraver Hippolyte Brasseux in 1826 was acquired by Édouard Devambez. At first the firm specialized in heraldic engraving, engraved letterheads and invitations. Devambez clients included the

House of Orléans The 4th House of Orléans (french: Maison d'Orléans), sometimes called the House of Bourbon-Orléans (french: link=no, Maison de Bourbon-Orléans) to distinguish it, is the fourth holder of a surname previously used by several branches of the Ro ...

, the House of Bonaparte and the Élysée Palace. Devambez widened the scope of the business to include advertising and publicity, artists’ prints, luxurious limited edition books, and an important art gallery. The House became recognized as one of the foremost fine engravers in Paris, winning numerous medals and honours. With the artist Édouard Chimot as Editor after the First World War, a series of limited edition art books, employing leading French artists, illustrators and affichistes, reached a high point under the imprimatur ''A l'Enseigne du Masque d'Or'' – the Sign of the Golden Mask and with PAN in collaboration with Paul Poiret. Édouard's son, André Devambez, became a famous painter and illustrator after receiving the

Prix de Rome The Prix de Rome () or Grand Prix de Rome was a French scholarship for arts students, initially for painters and sculptors, that was established in 1663 during the reign of Louis XIV of France. Winners were awarded a bursary that allowed them t ...

1826-1873: The business before Devambez

The engraving business acquired by Devambez just before the Franco-Prussian War was founded in 1827 at No. 17,

passage des Panoramas The Passage des Panoramas is the oldest of the covered passages of Paris, France located in the 2nd arrondissement between the Montmartre boulevard to the North and Saint-Marc street to the south. It is one of the earliest venues of the Parisian ...

, as a "modest store" by Brasseux the younger. He was the younger brother of Brasseux the older, an engraver established in the galleries of the Palais-Royal who was known to work for king

Louis Philippe I Louis Philippe (6 October 1773 – 26 August 1850) was King of the French from 1830 to 1848, and the penultimate monarch of France. As Louis Philippe, Duke of Chartres, he distinguished himself commanding troops during the Revolutionary Wa ...

. As his brother, Brasseux the younger was specialized in stamps, medals, heraldic engraving and stone engraving. . According to an article published in 1927 in ''L'ami des lettrés'', Brasseux the younger was moderately successful in his business and did not succeed to enlarge significantly his customer base. He sold the business in 1863 to a M. Beltz. Beltz in turn sold the business who ran it for the next seven years, after which it was bought by Édouard Devambez.

Devambez Engraver and Fine Printing

Édouard Devambez was not simply an artisan, but also an artist (described in

Bénézit The ''Benezit Dictionary of Artists'' (in French, ''Bénézit: Dictionnaire des peintres, sculpteurs, dessinateurs et graveurs'') is an extensive publication of bibliographical information on painters, sculptors, designers and engravers created ...

as an engraver of book-plates). This artistic temperament ensured a scrupulous attention to questions of taste, balance and appropriateness in typography, engraving and design. Devambez began exhibiting his work at the Exposition Universelle in Paris, winning a bronze medal in 1878 and a silver medal in 1889 in the category "artistic printing and heraldic painting". Among the specialities of La Maison Devambez at this time were: book printing and production; type-founding; engraving on steel, copper, lead, wood, and stone; printing;

typography Typography is the art and technique of arranging type to make written language legible, readable and appealing when displayed. The arrangement of type involves selecting typefaces, point sizes, line lengths, line-spacing ( leading), ...

;

lithography Lithography () is a planographic method of printing originally based on the immiscibility of oil and water. The printing is from a stone (lithographic limestone) or a metal plate with a smooth surface. It was invented in 1796 by the German a ...

; colour printing and colour lithography; calligraphy; colouring; stamping; binding; gilding; and the sale of inks, paints, journals, ledgers, papers, boxes, stationary, leather goods, and special fabrics. In 1890, the business moved to 63, Passage des Panoramas, where what began as a simple printing studio became a prestigious store that attracted clients such as the House of Orléans, Roland Bonaparte, the Tsar

Ferdinand I of Bulgaria , image = Zar Ferdinand Bulgarien.jpg , caption = Ferdinand in 1912 , reign = 5 October 1908 – , coronation = , succession = Tsar of Bulgaria , predecessor = Himself as Prince , successor = Boris III , rei ...

and the Élysée Palace and the Hôtel de Ville, entrusted with the printing of official menus and programmes for receptions for visiting foreign monarchs such as the Emperor of Russia Nicholas II and the Empress Alexandra Feodorovna for their visit in Dunkerque on 18 September 1901. Devambez was also appointed official engraver to the Royal Family of Portugal. Devambez produced the traditional ''Livre d’Or'' (''Golden Book'', or Presentation Volume) for important events such as visits by the King of Spain or the

King of Great Britain The monarchy of the United Kingdom, commonly referred to as the British monarchy, is the constitutional form of government by which a hereditary sovereign reigns as the head of state of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies (the Bailiwi ...

, and ''Livres d’Or'' for the

Pasteur Institute The Pasteur Institute (french: Institut Pasteur) is a French non-profit private foundation dedicated to the study of biology, micro-organisms, diseases, and vaccines. It is named after Louis Pasteur, who invented pasteurization and vaccines ...

, the

Red Cross The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million volunteers, members and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure respect for all human beings, and ...

and others. After World War I the firm also produced ''Livres d’Or'' to commemorate the fallen, for instance the ''Livre d’Or de la

Compagnie Algérienne The ''Compagnie Algérienne'', from 1942 o 1948 ''Compagnie Algérienne de Crédit et de Banque'' ("Algerian Credit and Banking Company"), was a significant French bank with operations in Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia and Lebanon as well as mainl ...

1914-1918''.Anon., 'The Work of the Maison Devambez', ''Commercial Art Magazine'', May 1928. The reputation of La Maison Devambez continued to grow, with further medals at the Expositions Universelles, with a gold medal at Brussels in 1897, a Diploma of Honour at Toronto in 1898, and a gold medal in the category "engraving and printing" at the Exposition Universelle de Paris in 1900. At this exhibition (for which Édouard Devambez served as a member of the jury), he was named a Chevalier de la Légion d’honneur, and also obtained the prestigious title of ''Notable Commerçant''. M. Lahure, reporting on the 1900 Exposition, wrote:

'Monsieur Devambez, with the soul of an artist, loves his art with a passion, but this has not hampered him in making the House of Devambez one of the foremost engravers in Paris. His whole exhibit shows so artistic a taste and so meticulous an execution that the reputation acquired by M. Devambez would have grown even more, if that had been possible.'"

The expansion of the business so far beyond its original boundaries necessitated an expansion of the premises. Rather than moving out of the Passage des Panoramas, where his main rival Stern was also located, Devambez took over two further adjacent shops. Édouard Devambez died on 2 June 1923.

Galerie Devambez

The Galerie Devambez was opened at 43, Boulevard Malesherbes in 1897. Initially it was used purely as a sales outlet for original prints – lithographs, etchings, drypoints – and facsimile prints of watercolours. During the First World War the Galerie was used by the Louvre (which was closed) to sell prints created by the Chalcographie du Louvre. The first ''Catalogue d’Estampes d’Art, Éditions de Grand Luxe de la Galerie Devambez'' lists limited edition prints by the following artists: Adler, Baudoux, Berthoud, Boichard, Brouet, Bernard Boutet de Monvel, Bucci, G. Cain, H. Chabanian, G. Charpentier, Damman, Désiré Lucas, Mme Destailleurs-Sevrin, Caro Delvaille, André Devambez, Duchemin, Adrien Étienne

rian RIA Novosti (russian: РИА Новости), sometimes referred to as RIAN () or RIA (russian: РИА, label=none) is a Russian state-owned domestic news agency. On 9 December 2013 by a decree of Vladimir Putin it was liquidated and its asset ...

Fraipont, Pennequin, Albert Guillaume, Labrouche, Herbeaud, J. B. Huet, Maurice Leloir, Lesage, Lorrain, R. Lorrain, Mignot, Mordant, Maurice Neumont, Gabriel Nicolet, Plasse, Richard Ranft, Rochegrosse. Simont, Maurice Taquoy,

Raymond Woog Raymond Emmanuel Woog (25 October 1875, Paris - 10 May 1949, Neuilly-sur-Seine) was a French painter, designer and illustrator. Biography He was a student of Gustave Moreau at the École des Beaux-Arts. In 1903, he was one of the exhibitors at ...

, Waidmann. Devambez also published limited edition albums of prints by artists such as Guy Arnoux (for instance ''Tambours et Trompettes'', a set of 10 pochoir prints published in 1918). No complete list exists of exhibitions held at the Galerie Devambez between 1908 and 1931. However catalogues of many of the shows are in the library of the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris. Pierre Sanchez has published in 2009 a book on the shows and artists of the gallery. The first exhibition at Galerie Devambez was a major show of drawings by Auguste Rodin, exhibited from 19 October to 5 November 1908. The Rodin show caused shock and outrage because of the erotic nature of many of the drawings. The sculptor F. W. Ruckstull was horrified, writing disapprovingly: ‘In his exhibition of drawings, held on 19 October 1908 in the Galerie Devambez in Paris, he showed the most libidinous set of drawings ever exposed to an invited public, in which there were at least two that were frankly pornographic and for which show he was, by both French and foreign people, called "beast", "monster", "vulgar charlatan", "sadist." etc.’ Others were charmed and delighted by the freshness of Rodin's work. The foreword to the catalogue praised the ‘bold, truthful images’, while the critic of Le Journal wrote that, ‘One cannot find in these hundred and fifty sketches and drawings of Rodin a single note seen before.’ This set the tone for a glittering series of important exhibitions, such as the ''Première Exposition d’Art Nègre et d’Art Océanien'', organized by

Paul Guillaume Paul Guillaume (1891 in Paris – 1934 in Paris) was a French art dealer. Dealer of Chaïm Soutine and Amedeo Modigliani, he was one of the first to organize African art exhibitions. He also bought and sold many works from cutting-edge artists of ...

, 13–19 May 1919, with a catalogue by Henri Clouzot and additional text by

Guillaume Apollinaire Guillaume Apollinaire) of the Wąż coat of arms. (; 26 August 1880 – 9 November 1918) was a French poet, playwright, short story writer, novelist, and art critic of Polish descent. Apollinaire is considered one of the foremost poets of t ...

. Apollinaire, who died the previous year, had collaborated with Paul Guillaume on the pioneering study ''Sculptures Nègres'' in 1917. This exhibition – drawn from Guillaume's private collection - placed

African art African art describes the modern and historical paintings, sculptures, installations, and other visual culture from native or indigenous Ethnic groups of Africa, Africans and the African continent. The definition may also include the art of the ...

at the heart of

Modernism Modernism is both a philosophy, philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western world, Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new fo ...

. Artists exhibiting at Galerie Devambez included Mary Cassatt, Armand Guillaumin, Claude-Oscar

Monet Oscar-Claude Monet (, , ; 14 November 1840 – 5 December 1926) was a French painter and founder of impressionist painting who is seen as a key precursor to modernism, especially in his attempts to paint nature as he perceived it. During ...

, Pierre- Auguste Renoir, Auguste Marquet, Paul Signac,

Raoul Dufy Raoul Dufy (; 3 June 1877 – 23 March 1953) was a French Fauvist painter. He developed a colorful, decorative style that became fashionable for designs of ceramics and textile as well as decorative schemes for public buildings. He is noted ...

, Maurice de Vlaminck,

Henri Matisse Henri Émile Benoît Matisse (; 31 December 1869 – 3 November 1954) was a French visual artist, known for both his use of colour and his fluid and original draughtsmanship. He was a drawing, draughtsman, printmaking, printmaker, and sculptur ...

, Georges Braque,

Pablo Picasso Pablo Ruiz Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist and Scenic design, theatre designer who spent most of his adult life in France. One of the most influential artists of the 20th ce ...

, Amedeo Modigliani,

Tsuguharu Foujita was a Japanese–French painter and printmaker born in Tokyo, Japan, who applied Japanese ink techniques to Western style paintings. At the height of his fame in Paris, during the 1920s, he was known for his portraits of nudes using an opalescen ...

, and

Giorgio de Chirico Giuseppe Maria Alberto Giorgio de Chirico ( , ; 10 July 1888 – 20 November 1978) was an Italian artist and writer born in Greece. In the years before World War I, he founded the '' scuola metafisica'' art movement, which profoundly influ ...

. The ''Exposition de Peinture Moderne'' organised by M. Paul Guillaume in the Galerie Devambez from 27 January to 12 February 1920 with an introductory text by

is considered as a turning point in the modern art history. Picasso exhibited four works : ''Tête'', ''Buste'', ''Nature Morte'', and ''Nu de Femme''. Modigliani exhibited twelve : La Demoiselle du dimanche, Portrait de

Jean Cocteau Jean Maurice Eugène Clément Cocteau (, , ; 5 July 1889 – 11 October 1963) was a French poet, playwright, novelist, designer, filmmaker, visual artist and critic. He was one of the foremost creatives of the s ...

, La Dame au médaillon, La Collerette blanche, La jolie Fille rousse, Le Liseré noir, Madam Pompadour, Femme au fauteuil, Beatrice, L’Enfant gras, La Rouqine, Tête de Femme, and Raymond.

Matisse Henri Émile Benoît Matisse (; 31 December 1869 – 3 November 1954) was a French visual artist, known for both his use of colour and his fluid and original draughtsmanship. He was a drawing, draughtsman, printmaking, printmaker, and sculptur ...

exhibited one painting, ''Les Trois sœurs'', and four bronze sculptures : ''Le Serf'', ''Femme accroupie'', ''Tête de femme'', and ''Torse de fillette''.

's important painting ''Il Ritornante'', also exhibited at this show, sold from the collection of

Pierre Bergé Pierre Vital Georges Bergé (; 14 November 1930 – 8 September 2017) was a French industrialist and patron. He co-founded the fashion label Yves Saint Laurent, and was a longtime business partner (and onetime life partner) of its namesake des ...

- Yves Saint Laurent at Christie's in February 2009 for €11,041,00 ($14,285,461). The catalogue text by

Apollinaire Guillaume Apollinaire) of the Wąż coat of arms. (; 26 August 1880 – 9 November 1918) was a French poet, playwright, short story writer, novelist, and art critic of Polish descent. Apollinaire is considered one of the foremost poets of th ...

reads :

Les grands poètes et les grands artistes ont pour fonction de renouveler sans cesse l'apparence que revêt la nature aux yeux des hommes. Sans les poètes, sans les artistes les hommes s'ennuieraient vite de la monotonie naturelle. L'idée sublime qu'ils ont de l'univers retomberait avec une vitesse vertigineuse. L'ordre qui paraît dans la nature et qui n'est qu'un effet de l'art s'évanouirait aussitôt. Tout se déferait dans le chaos. Plus de saison, plus de vie même et l'impuissante obscurité règnerait à jamais. Les poètes et les artistes déterminent de concert la figure de leur époque et docilement l'avenir se range à leur avis.

(Great poets and great artists have the role of renewing ceaselessly the appearance with which the world is invested in the eyes of mankind. Without poets and without artists, men would swiftly become bored by the monotony of natural order. The sublime concept of the Universe which they have would collapse with headlong suddenness. The order which seems to exist in nature, and which is merely an effect of art, would simultaneously evaporate. Everything would be dissolved in chaos. No more seasons, no more life even, and impotent darkness would reign for all time. Poets and artists together define the character of their age, and what is to come pliantly disposes itself according to their precepts.)

Together, these two important exhibitions curated by Paul Guillaume redefined the spirit and direction of Modernist art in the aftermath of World War I. The gallery also hosted annual exhibitions of the Salon de l’Araignée, the Société des Peintres-Graveurs, and the Société des Peintres Lithographes.

Devambez publishing

Long-established as a printer, Devambez only ventured into book publishing at the start of the twentieth century, the first being in 1908, a book by Georges Cain on ''La Place Vendôme''. The publishing business was carried out from premises at 23, rue Lavoisier. Books were published either simply under the name ''Devambez'', as ''Devambez Éditions de Luxe'', or as ''À l’Enseigne du Masque d’Or, Devambez'' ; the term ''Masque d’Or'' was also used for two beautiful Art Deco almanacks for the years 1921 and 1922, illustrated with pochoir prints by Édouard Halouze. In this capacity, between 1906 and 1932 Devambez published around 70 general books, mostly illustrated, of which a selection of key titles is listed below. *

Georges Cain Georges-Jules-Auguste Cain (16 April 1856, Paris - 4 March 1919, Paris) was a French painter, illustrator and writer, who specialized in the history of Paris, its monuments and its theaters. Biography His grandfather, Pierre-Jules Mêne and ...

, ''La Place Vendôme'', 1908 * Eugène Belville, ''Monogrammes, Cachets, Marques, Ex-Libris'', 1910 *

Léon Bourgeois Léon Victor Auguste Bourgeois (; 21 May 185129 September 1925) was a French statesman. His ideas influenced the Radical Party regarding a wide range of issues. He promoted progressive taxation such as progressive income taxes and social insuran ...

et al., ''La Misère Sociale de la Femme'', 1910 * René Peter, ''La Création du Monde'', ill. René Peter, 1912 * A. Bernheim, ''Autour de la Comédie Française'', 1913 * Jacques Boulanger, ''Le plus rare Voscelett du Monde'', ill.

Pierre Brissaud Pierre Brissaud (23 December 1885 – 17 October 1964) was a French Art Deco illustrator, painter, and engraver whose father was Docteur Edouard Brissaud, a student of Docteur Charcot. He was born in Paris and trained at the École des Beaux-Ar ...

, 1913 * Charles Fouqueray, ''Le Front de Mer'', ill. Charles Fouqueray,

916 __NOTOC__ Year 916 ( CMXVI) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * Sicilian Berbers in Agrigento revolt and depose the independent Emir Ahmed ibn Kh ...

* Charles Fouqueray, ''Les Fusiliers-Marins au Front de Flandres'', ill. Charles Fouqueray,

René Benjamin René Benjamin (1885 in Paris, France - 1948 in Tours, France) was a French writer. In 1915 he received the Prix Goncourt for his novel ''Gaspard''. In 1938, he became the first Goncourt laureate to be appointed a member of the Académie Goncourt ...

, ''Les Soldats de la Guerre, Gaspard'', ill. Jean Lefort, 1917 * Guy Arnoux. "Le Bon Francais" 1917. *

Louis Raemaekers Louis Raemaekers (April 6, 1869 – July 26, 1956) was a Dutch painter and editorial cartoonist for the Amsterdam newspaper ''De Telegraaf'' during World War I, noted for his anti-German stance. Early life He was born and grew up in Roermond, ...

, ''La Guerre'', ill. Louis Raemaekers, 917* Roger Boutet de Monvel, ''Nos Frères d’Amérique'', ill. Guy Arnoux, 1918 * Lucien Lévy-Dhurmer, ''Les Mères pendant la Guerre'', ill. Lucien Lévy-Dhurmer, 1918 * Georges-Victor Hugo, ''Sur le Front de Champagne'', ill. Georges-Victor Hugo, 1918 * Guy Arnoux, ''Histoire de la Ramée'', ill. Guy Arnoux, 1919 * Jean-Paul Alaux, ''Visions Japonaises'', ill. Jean-Paul Alaux, 1920 * ''Almanach du Masque d’Or pour l’année 1921'', ill. Édouard Halouze, 1920 * Guy Arnoux, ''Les Caractères'', ill. Guy Arnoux,

920 __NOTOC__ Year 920 ( CMXX) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * December 17 – Romanos I has himself crowned co-emperor of the Byza ...

* Jacques Boulanger, ''De la Valse au Tango'', ill. Cappiello, Sem, Drian, Domergue, Guy Arnoux, De Goyon, Halouze, 1920 * Marc Elder, ''À Bord des Chalutiers Dragueurs de Mines'', ill. René Pinard, 1920 * Claude Farrère, ''Vieille Marine'', ill. Guy Arnoux, 1920 * René Kerdyk, ''Les Femmes de ce Temps'', ill. Guy Arnoux, 1920 *

Edgar Allan Poe Edgar Allan Poe (; Edgar Poe; January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic. Poe is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales of mystery and the macabre. He is wid ...

, ''Une Descente dans le Maelström'', ill. Marc Roux, 1920 *

Madeleine de Scudéry Madeleine de Scudéry (15 November 1607 – 2 June 1701), often known simply as Mademoiselle de Scudéry, was a French writer. Her works also demonstrate such comprehensive knowledge of ancient history that it is suspected she had received inst ...

, ''La Promenade de Versailles'', ill. Robert Mahias, 1920 *

Laurence Sterne Laurence Sterne (24 November 1713 – 18 March 1768), was an Anglo-Irish novelist and Anglican cleric who wrote the novels ''The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman'' and '' A Sentimental Journey Through France and Italy'', publishe ...

, ''Voyage Sentimental en France et en Italie'', ill. Édouard Halouze, 1920 * ''Almanach du Masque d’Or pour l’année 1922'', ill. Édouard Halouze, 1921 * Léon Arnoult, ''La Variabilité du Gout dans les Arts'', 1921 * Jean de la Fontaine, ''Adonis'', intro.

Paul Valéry Ambroise Paul Toussaint Jules Valéry (; 30 October 1871 – 20 July 1945) was a French poet, essayist, and philosopher. In addition to his poetry and fiction (drama and dialogues), his interests included aphorisms on art, history, letters, mus ...

, 1921 *

Prosper Mérimée Prosper Mérimée (; 28 September 1803 – 23 September 1870) was a French writer in the movement of Romanticism, and one of the pioneers of the novella, a short novel or long short story. He was also a noted archaeologist and historian, and a ...

, ''La Double Méprise'', 1922 * Jean-Paul Alaux, ''L’Histoire Merveilleuse de Christophe Colomb'', ill. Gustave Alaux, 1924 * Georges-Marie Haardt and Louis Adouin-Dubreuil, ''Les Nuits du Hoggar: Poèmes Touareg'', ill. Galanis after Robert-Raphaël Hardt, 1926 *

Adolphe Willette Adolphe Léon Willette (30 July 1857, Châlons-sur-Marne4 February 1926, Paris) was a French painter, illustrator, caricaturist, and lithographer, as well as an architect of the famous Moulin Rouge cabaret. Willette ran as an " anti-semiti ...

, ''Les Sept Péchés Capitaux'', ill. Adolphe Willette, 1926 * ''Les Arcades des Champs-Élysées, Une Merveille du Paris Moderne'', ill. Raoul Serres and Lauro, 1927 * Guy Arnoux, ''Chansons du Marin Français'', ill. Guy Arnoux, 1928 * Cherronet,

, Corbière, Dekobra, Etchegouin, Fouquières, Mac Orlan, and Edmond Rostand, ''Deauville, La Plage Fleurie'', ill. Angoletta, Boucher, Dubaut, Gallibert, Geo Ham, Sem, Valerio, Vertès, 1930 *

Pierre Mac Orlan Pierre Mac Orlan, sometimes written MacOrlan (born Pierre Dumarchey, February 26, 1882 – June 27, 1970), was a French novelist and songwriter. His novel '' Quai des Brumes'' was the source for Marcel Carné's 1938 film of the same name, starring ...

, ''La Croix, L’Ancre et la Grenade'', ill. Lucien Boucher, 1932

Édouard Chimot and ''Les Editions d'Art Devambez''

The books listed above do not include those published from 1923 to 1931 under the name ''Éditions d’Art Devambez'', which was a separate series of artist's books. The appointment of Édouard Chimot in 1923 as artistic director of a fine press imprint, ''Les Éditions d’Art Devambez'', opened a new era for Devambez. Chimot was among the artists who carried the Symbolist aesthetic forward into the age of

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...

. The 1920s were his heyday. This was when his own art was at its most powerful and original, and also when his influence throughout the Parisian art world was most strongly felt. As artistic director of the fine press ''Les Éditions d’Art Devambez'', Édouard Chimot worked closely with artists such as

Edgar Chahine Edgar Chahine ( hy, Էդգար Պետրոսի Շահին: 31 October 1874, in Vienna – 18 March 1947, in Paris) was a French painter, engraver, and illustrator of Armenian descent. Biography Edgar Chahine was born in Vienna but moved to Cons ...

, Drian, Jean Droit, Henri Farge, and Alméry Lobel-Riche. Typically, books published by André Devambez under the direction of Chimot were illustrated with original etchings, in strictly limited editions of a few hundred copies. In 1929, Devambez published a lavish catalogue, simply entitled ''Les Éditions d’Art Devambez'', in an edition of 100, to be given to his chief collaborators and preferred clients, containing extra proofs from all the books published from 1923-1929. Each copy of this catalogue was numbered and signed by Chimot to a named recipient. As almost all the books are already listed as out-of-print and unobtainable, the catalogue is not a sales pitch, but a record of achievement. To make the 100 books, the publisher bound up existing proof pages, to distribute to those most interested:

'Ce n’est pas un catalogue de reproductions que nous lui offrons, mais les précieux défets des livres eux-mêmes: les eaux-fortes du tirage et les feuilles typographiques du tirage, imprimées sur les différents papiers employés pour chaque édition.'

In order to construct a catalogue in this way, all copies of the book must be unique in their content. Devambez may have regretted the extra expense involved in creating this exquisite calling card, as the

Wall Street Crash The Wall Street Crash of 1929, also known as the Great Crash, was a major American stock market crash that occurred in the autumn of 1929. It started in September and ended late in October, when share prices on the New York Stock Exchange colla ...

and subsequent Depression devastated his market. No one would be buying, or bankrolling, projects such as these in the 1930s. There were several books still in the pipeline, but the glory days of the Chimot/Devambez partnership were over. Some announced books seem to have been cancelled. The artists involved in ''Les Éditions d’Art Devambez'' include Art Deco masters such as Pierre Brissaud (who illustrated three books of the 31 or 32 published) and Drian. Drian was born Adrien Desiré Étienne, into a peasant family in Lorraine. The chatelaine of the village took an interest in the talented boy, but was horrified by his desire to be an artist. So when Adrien Étienne went to Paris to study at the Académie Julian, he took the pseudonym Drian – his own first name, as his contemporaries heard it in his slurred Lorrain accent. He is often listed as Adrien Drian or Étienne Drian, but both are incorrect: the name Drian stands alone, like

Erté Romain de Tirtoff (23 November 1892 – 21 April 1990) was a Russian-born French artist and designer known by the pseudonym Erté, from the French pronunciation of his initials (, EHR TEH). He was a 20th-century artist and designer in an a ...

. Chimot drew from the wide range of artists from round the world who had settled in Paris in the 1920s : William Walcot was an English artist born in Odessa to a Russian mother;

and Tigrat Polane were both

Armenia Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ' ...

n émigrés; Tsuguharu Foujita, known to his Montmartre friends as Léonard, was the artist who more than any other infused Japanese art with a modern Western sensibility. Édouard Chimot himself was the most prolific supplier of original prints to Les Éditions d’Art Devambez, illustrating with etchings ''Les Chansons du Bilitis'', ''Les Poésies de Méléagre'', ''Les Belles de Nuit'', ''La Femme et le Pantin'', and

Verlaine Verlaine (; wa, Verlinne) is a municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Liège, Belgium. On January 1, 2006, Verlaine had a total population of 3,507. The total area is 24.21 km2 which gives a population density Population d ...

's ''Parallèlement''.

List of books published under the imprint ''Les Éditions d’Art Devambez''

(See References for sources of this listing.) *

Anatole France (; born , ; 16 April 1844 – 12 October 1924) was a French poet, journalist, and novelist with several best-sellers. Ironic and skeptical, he was considered in his day the ideal French man of letters. He was a member of the Académie França ...

, ''Le Petit Pierre'', ill. Pierre Brissaud, 1923 *

, ''La Vie en Fleur'', ill. Pierre Brissaud, 1924 * Henri de Regnier, ''La Canne de Jaspe'', ill. Drian, 1924 *

Pierre Louÿs Pierre Louÿs (; 10 December 1870 – 4 June 1925) was a French poet and writer, most renowned for lesbian and classical themes in some of his writings. He is known as a writer who sought to "express pagan sensuality with stylistic perfection". ...

, ''Les Chansons de Bilitis'', ill, Édouard Chimot, 1925 * Maurice Barrès, ''La Mort de Vénise'', ill. Edgar Chahine, 1926 * Claude Farrère, ''L’Homme qui Assassina'', ill. Henri Farge, 1926 *

Gustave Flaubert Gustave Flaubert ( , , ; 12 December 1821 – 8 May 1880) was a French novelist. Highly influential, he has been considered the leading exponent of literary realism in his country. According to the literary theorist Kornelije Kvas, "in Flauber ...

, ''Salammbô'', ill. William Walcot, 1926 *

Pierre Loti Pierre Loti (; pseudonym of Louis Marie-Julien Viaud ; 14 January 1850 – 10 June 1923) was a French naval officer and novelist, known for his exotic novels and short stories.This article is derived largely from the ''Encyclopædia Britannica El ...

, ''La Troisième Jeunesse de Madame Prune'', ill. Tsuguharu Foujita, 1926 *

, ''Les Poésies de Méléagre'', ill. Édouard Chimot, 1926 *

Alphonse Daudet Alphonse Daudet (; 13 May 184016 December 1897) was a French novelist. He was the husband of Julia Daudet and father of Edmée, Léon and Lucien Daudet. Early life Daudet was born in Nîmes, France. His family, on both sides, belonged to the ...

, ''Les Lettres de mon Moulin'', ill. Jean Droit, 1927 *

Joseph Arthur Joseph Arthur (born September 28, 1971) is an American singer-songwriter and artist from Akron, Ohio. He is best known for his solo material, and as a member of Fistful of Mercy and RNDM. Arthur has built his reputation over the years through ...

, Comte de Gobineau, ''Les Nouvelles Asiatiques'', ill. Henri Le Riche, 1927 *

Jean Lorrain Jean Lorrain (9 August 1855 in Fécamp, Seine-Maritime – 30 June 1906), born Paul Alexandre Martin Duval, was a French poet and novelist of the Symbolist school. Lorrain was a dedicated disciple of dandyism and spent much of his time amongs ...

, ''Monsieur de Bougrelon'', ill, Drian, 1927 * Maurice Magre, ''Les Belles de Nuit'', ill. Édouard Chimot, 1927 *

André Suarès André Suarès, born Isaac Félix Suarèshttp://data.bnf.fr/11925703/andre_suares/fr.pdf (12 June 1868, Marseille – 7 September 1948, Saint-Maur-des-Fossés) was a French poet and critic. From 1912 onwards, he was one of the four "pillars" o ...

, ''Le Livre de L’Émeraude'', ill. Auguste Brouet, 1927 * Maurice Barrès, ''Greco ou le secret de Tolède'', ill. Auguste Brouet, 1928 *

, ''Les Contes du Lundi'', ill. Pierre Brissaud, 1928 *

, ''Hérodias'', ill. William Walcot, 1928 *

, ''La Femme et le Pantin'', ill. Édouard Chimot, 1928 * Alphonse de Chateaubriant, ''Monsieur de Lourdines'', ill. Henri Jourdain, 1929 *

, ''Novembre'', ill. Edgar Chahine, 1929 *

Joris-Karl Huysmans Charles-Marie-Georges Huysmans (, ; 5 February 1848 – 12 May 1907) was a French novelist and art critic who published his works as Joris-Karl Huysmans (, variably abbreviated as J. K. or J.-K.). He is most famous for the novel '' À rebour ...

, ''Le Drageoir aux Épices'', ill. Auguste Brouet, 1929 * Marie-Madeleine Pioche de La Vergne, Comtesse de Lafayette, ''

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'', ill. Drian, 1929 * Alfred de Musset, ''La Nuit Vénitienne'', ill. Jean-Gabriel Domergue, 1929 *

Émile Verhaeren Émile Adolphe Gustave Verhaeren (; 21 May 1855 – 27 November 1916) was a Belgian poet and art critic who wrote in the French language. He was one of the founders of the school of Symbolism and was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Lit ...

, ''Les Villages Illusoires'', ill. J. van Santen, 1929 * René Boylesve, ''Nymphes dansant avec des Satyres'', ill. Tigrane Polat, 1930 *

Colette Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette (; 28 January 1873 – 3 August 1954), known mononymously as Colette, was a French author and woman of letters. She was also a mime, actress, and journalist. Colette is best known in the English-speaking world for her ...

, ''Mitsou'', ill. Edgar Chahine, 1930 *

Ovid Pūblius Ovidius Nāsō (; 20 March 43 BC – 17/18 AD), known in English as Ovid ( ), was a Roman poet who lived during the reign of Augustus. He was a contemporary of the older Virgil and Horace, with whom he is often ranked as one of the th ...

, ''Métamorphoses'', ill. André Lambert, 1930 *

, ''Le Voyage du Condottière'', ill. Louis Jou, 1930 * Oscar Wilde, ''Salomé'', ill. Alméry Lobel-Riche, 1930 *

, ''Marthe'', ill. Auguste Brouet, 1931 *

Paul Verlaine Paul-Marie Verlaine (; ; 30 March 1844 – 8 January 1896) was a French poet associated with the Symbolist movement and the Decadent movement. He is considered one of the greatest representatives of the '' fin de siècle'' in international and ...

, ''Parallèlement'', ill. Édouard Chimot, 1931 There appears to be one further volume published as part of the same series as those above, but not included in the published catalogue, perhaps because it was deemed too risqué: * ''Petite Mythologie Galante à l'usage des Dames, Les Dieux Majeurs'', ill. André Lambert, 1928 Three books announced for 1930 may never have been printed. These were: *

, ''Crainquebille'', ill. Auguste Brouet * Stéphane Mallarmé, ''Poésies'', ill. Édouard Chimot *

Albert Samain Albert Victor Samain (3 April 185818 August 1900) was a French poet and writer of the Symbolist school. Life and works Born in Lille, his family were Flemish and had long lived in the town or its suburbs. At the time of the poet's birth, his fat ...

, ''Le Jardin de l’Infante'', ill. Édouard Chimot

Devambez and advertising

Devambez was a pioneering advertising agency. They produced posters, catalogues (for instance a catalogue for Chrysler designed by Valerio), and adverts. An article in the ''Commercial Art Magazine'' in May 1928 notes that Devambez had already discovered the secrets of creating a brand: "In direct advertising he devotes particular attention to arousing the interest of possible buyers by objects which are not specific advertisements, but create a favourable disposition towards the advertiser on whose behalf they are produced.' During the First World War, Devambez created many posters for the Bureau de Propagande Française à l’Étranger, by artists such as

Abel Faivre Abel Faivre (30 March 1867 – 13 August 1945) was a French painter, illustrator and cartoonist. Early life and work Jules Abel Faivre was born in Lyon, France. He attended École nationale des beaux-arts de Lyon for three years. He then attende ...

, André Devambez, Théophile-Alexandre Steinlen, Adolphe Willette, and Jean-Louis Forain. From 1921 to 1936 Devambez had an exclusive contract with one of the leading poster artists of the day,

Leonetto Cappiello Leonetto Cappiello (9 April 1875 – 2 February 1942) was an Italian and French poster art designer and painter, who mainly lived and worked in Paris.

. His most famous posters are for Parapluies Revel, La Belle Jardinière, Cachou Lajaunie, Bouillons Kub, and Le Théâtre National de l’Opéra. Other artists who frequently created posters for Devambez include Lucien Boucher, Roger de Valerio, and

Victor Vasarely Victor Vasarely (; born Győző Vásárhelyi, ; 9 April 1906 – 15 March 1997) was a Hungarian-French artist, who is widely accepted as a "grandfather" and leader of the Op art movement. His work entitled ''Zebra'', created in 1937, is consid ...

.Bénézit, ''Dictionnaire des Peintres'', vol. 14, p.59. Devambez also produced books for clients such as railway and shipping companies. These luxurious productions were not for sale, but were given away as promotional items. One typical item, an Art Deco-style guide to fashionable Paris complete with a "List of firms recommended", was published for the French State Railways. Written in English by Jacques Deval, it mimics the style of Anita Loos’ ''Gentlemen Prefer Blondes''. The title is ...and blondes prefer Paris. Four letters, twenty-two postcards, two night letters and one cable from his sweet, sweet Annabel Flowers to her darling, darling, George Sabran.

PAN, Annuaire du Luxe à Paris, Paul Poiret

La Maison Devambez became intimately connected with the other grand houses of fashionable Paris. The 1927 book Les Arcades des Champs Élysées celebrated the achievement of the architect Marcel Duhayon. Marcel Duhayon designed luxury hotels in Paris : Hotel Royal Monceau, Hotel Commodore, Hotel California, Grand Hotel des Ambassadeurs. He was the uncle of Suzanne Goyard, the wife of François Goyard, the grand-grand son of the founder of

Goyard Maison Goyard, or simply Goyard, is a French trunk and leather goods maker established in 1792 as Maison Martin in Paris; the company also operated as Maison Morel, before becoming Maison Goyard in 1853. The brand is known for a certain amount o ...

, the Parisian trunk maker founded in 1853. The luxury shops of the day were celebrated in the pochoir illustrations by Édouard Halouze in the Almanach du Masque d’Or, in 16 pages of adverts at the back for shops such as Cartier. Companies such as Moët et Chandon joined

Jeanne Lanvin Jeanne-Marie Lanvin (; 1 January 1867 – 6 July 1946) was a French haute couture fashion designer. She founded the Lanvin fashion house and the beauty and perfume company Lanvin Parfums. Early life Jeanne Lanvin was born in Paris on 1 Janua ...

, Transatlantic shipping lines and French railway companies in commissioning promotional literature from Devambez. Most crucial of all these contacts was with the fashion designer

Paul Poiret Paul Poiret (20 April 1879 – 30 April 1944, Paris, France) was a French fashion designer, a master couturier during the first two decades of the 20th century. He was the founder of his namesake haute couture house. Early life and care ...

. In 1928, Poiret and Devambez collaborated on the most luxurious all the de-luxe Devambez books, entitled Pan: Annuaire de Luxe à Paris. It was essentially a collection of 116 Art Deco plates – some pochoir-coloured - advertising all the most exclusive Paris brands, including

Van Cleef & Arpels Van Cleef & Arpels is a French high-end luxury jewelry company. It was founded in 1896 by the Dutch diamond-cutter Alfred Van Cleef and his father-in-law Salomon Arpels in Paris. Their pieces often feature flowers, animals, and fairies, and hav ...

, Judith Barbier, Mitsubishi, Maigret,

Hermès Hermès International S.A., or simply Hermès ( , ), is a French luxury design house established in 1837. It specializes in leather goods, lifestyle accessories, home furnishings, perfumery, jewelry, watches and ready-to-wear. Its logo, since ...

, Lanvin,

Callot Soeurs Callot Soeurs () was one of the leading fashion design houses of the 1910s and 1920s. Origins Callot Soeurs opened in 1895 at 24, rue Taitbout in Paris, France. It was operated by the four Callot sisters: Marie Callot Gerber, Marthe Callot Be ...

, Maxims, Galeries Lafayette, Jane Régay, Les gants Jouvin, La Tour d'Argent,

Madeleine Vionnet Madeleine Vionnet (; June 22, 1876, Loiret, France – March 2, 1975) was a French fashion designer. Vionnet trained in London before returning to France to establish her first fashion house in Paris in 1912. Although it was forced to close in 1 ...

, Worth,

Moulin Rouge Moulin Rouge (, ; ) is a cabaret in Paris, on Boulevard de Clichy, at Place Blanche, the intersection of, and terminus of Rue Blanche. In 1889, the Moulin Rouge was co-founded by Charles Zidler and Joseph Oller, who also owned the Paris Ol ...

, and Devambez themselves. The illustrators included Gus Bofa (Madeleine Vionnet), Lucien Boucher (Au Printemps),

(La Baule), Charles Martin (Simon), Sem (Maxim's), and Roger de Valerio (Devambez). Despite the beauty and artistic success of the list edited by Chimot for Les Éditions d’Art Devambez, Pan was probably Devambez’ finest hour.

References

Sources

* Anon. "The Work of The Maison Devambez", Commercial Art Magazine, May 1928 * Guillaume Apollinaire, Apollinaire on Art: Essays and Reviews 1902-1918 (MFA Publications, 2001) * Janine Bailly-Herzberg, L’Estampe en France 1830-1950 (Arts et Métiers Graphiques, 1985) * E. Bénézit, Dictionnaire critique et documentaire des Peintres, Sculpteurs, Dessinateurs et Graveurs (Gründ, 14 vols, 1999) * J.-L. Bernard, Édouard Chimot 1880-1959: bibliographie des oeuvres illustrés, 1991 * Édouard Chimot, Les Éditions d’Art Devambez (Éditions d’Art Devambez, 1929) * Colette Giraudon, Paul Guillaume et les Peintres du XXe Siècle (La Bibliothèque des Arts, 1993) * Paul Guillaume, "A New Aesthetic", Les Arts à Paris, 15 mai 1919 * Sieglinde Lemke, Primitive Modernism: Black Culture and the Origins of Transatlantic Modernism (Oxford University Press, 1998) * Luc Monod, Manuel de l’Amateur de Livres Illustrés Modernes 1875-1975 (Ides et Calendes, 1992) * Pierre Mornand, Trente Artistes du Livre (Éditions Marval, 1945) * Pierre Mornand, Vingt-Deux Artistes du Livre (

Le Courrier graphique ''Le Courrier graphique. Revue des arts graphiques'' was a twentieth century French magazine of the graphic arts published in Paris. It was first published in 1936 and ceased with edition number 118 in 1962. It was produced under the direction ...

, 1948) * Pierre Mornand, Vingt Artistes du Livre (Le Courrier graphique, 1950) * Marcus Osterwalder, Dictionnaire des Illustrateurs, 1800-1965 (Ides et Calendes, 3 vols, 2000) * Maurice Rat, Édouard Chimot (Henri Babou, 1931) * W. J. Strachan, The Artist and the Book in France (Peter Owen, 1969) * Martin Wolpert & Jeffrey Winter, Figurative Paintings: Paris and the Modern Spirit (Schiffer, 2006)

External links

*
Neil Philip's page on Chimot and Devambez from ''Adventures in the Print Trade''

* ttp://thebluelantern.blogspot.com/2008/06/andre-devambez-artist-of-crowds.html Feature on André Devambez {{Authority control Printing companies of France Companies established in 1826 Luxury brands French brands French engravers 1826 establishments in France