- Lot 268

Lot n° 268
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Estimation :
150 - 200 EUR
- Lot 268
[TEXTILE] Helen MAI PSEUDONYM OF JEANNE LARTIGUE (PARIS, AUGUST 12, 1903 - PARIS, JANUARY 1995) - Set of 16 original projects painted with gouache and ink, floral, geometric, figurative or abstract textile models, for fashion, lingerie, children's or furniture. In sheets, mounted on white canson. Dimensions of the supports: +/- 255 x 330 mm. One or the other smaller. Margins of 5 projects burnished. Drawn on colored canson or glossy paper, artist's stamp on most; most have indications. One or the other pasted in full. Handwritten markings in pencil on many of them. Various sizes: 100 to 225 x 95 to 220 mm. Set of eclectic textile models, on a rather varied support, sometimes cut, for furniture or fashion (children and "all ranges"), intended to be printed. The patterns are geometric, figurative or decorative, of varying scales and realized on different colored backgrounds, one is declined in several versions. Some of the motifs are in the connection and 4 projects are titled. PATTERN + FRAME: 4 projects have 2 sheets: each time, the first sheet is cut out of a large rectangle which reveals the pattern of the second sheet. At the bottom of the cutout is a frieze coordinated with the main design. The cutout is the width of the design that appears in this frame. One of the projects, titled "TENDER RESIDENCE", features a pattern of small houses and trees in shades of pink and blue. The hearts coming out of the chimneys are found in the coordinating frieze on the first sheet. A predominantly yellow project features small dogs jumping through hoops, with a coordinating border of dots and small ink graphics. The other two projects feature more abstract designs, one with slanted lines and small geometric elements in shades of black, orange and blue. VARIED PATTERN: 6 projects are gouache patterns featuring different geometric or figurative motifs for lingerie, children's or furniture. "BEASTS TO GOOD GOD" represents a pretty composition of small ladybugs and foliage with small light blue elements. "CIRCLES" is composed of bright orange dots interspersed with black and blue circles, some of which are hatched, and the whole is scattered with small graphic elements also black and blue. PLOMBS figures a composition representing key rings and various small graphic elements of blue, black and orange color. A motif represents bird cages and small stylized birds on a light blue background. FLOWER IN LACE PATTERN: 6 projects are variations of the same design, in different color ranges and on different backgrounds/paper. They feature a large stylized flower on a background that evokes lace or tulle networks. On one of the plates are stapled 4 small samples of colored paper on which are figured details of the drawing. Several margins are yellowed. TOGETHER 16 PROJECTS. Helen MAI pseudonym of Jeanne LARTIGUE (Paris, August 12, 1903 - Paris, January 1995). Numbers 261 to 275 present a very nice selection of original gouaches for projects intended for furniture or clothing textiles as well as handbag projects. The vast majority of these models are signed by her or stamped with her Parisian address on Boulevard Raspail. Abstract and cubist painter, designer, ceramist, mosaicist, sculptor, etc.. Helen Mai, a multi-talented artist, relative of the famous photographer Jacques Henri Lartigue, has created numerous ceramic pieces, mosaics and enamels, models for the decorative arts and fashion (designs for African inspired fabrics). Many of her works have been acquired by Jean Lelong. She has exhibited at the Salon d'Automne, La Grande Chaumière and the Lucy Krogh Gallery. In the field of decoration, she is best known for having practiced encaust painting, thus rediscovering the secrets of the ancient frescoes of Pompeii or Fayoum. This technique with burnt colors, used by the great masters of Greek and Roman painting and then Byzantine. Helen Mai has rediscovered this painting, using a hot iron instead of a brush to apply a colored wax to fix it on the support, by burning it. We find different techniques mixed in the projects presented here (bags, then fabrics and papers). The same richness of inspiration in all these motifs which are nourished by nature, and also by various cultures and periods.
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