André Derain Framed 'Big Ben' Color Lithography, Circa 1972

Original 'Big Ben' color lithograph by André Derain.

Lithograph printed from an original painting made by the author in France, circa 1906.

Published by Fernand Mourlot in Les Fauves. Paris, circa 1972.

Framed and signed in the stone.

In good original condition, with minor wear consistent with age and use, preserving a beautiful patina.

About the Artist:

André Derain (10 June 1880 – 8 September 1954) was a French artist, painter, sculptor and co-founder of Fauvism with Henri Matisse.

Derain and Matisse worked together through the summer of 1905 in the Mediterranean village of Collioure and later that year displayed their highly innovative paintings at the Salon d'Automne. The vivid, unnatural colors led the critic Louis Vauxcelles to derisively dub their works as les Fauves, or "the wild beasts", marking the start of the Fauvist movement. In March 1906, the noted art dealer Ambroise Vollard sent Derain to London to produce a series of paintings with the city as subject. In 30 paintings (29 of which are still extant), Derain presented a portrait of London that was radically different from anything done by previous painters of the city such as Whistler or Monet. With bold colors and compositions, Derain painted multiple pictures of the Thames and Tower Bridge. These London paintings remain among his most popular work. Art critic T. G Rosenthal: "Not since Monet has anyone made London seem so fresh and yet remain quintessentially English.
Some of his views of the Thames use the Pointillist technique of multiple dots, although by this time, because the dots have become much larger, it is rather more simply the separation of colours called Divisionism and it is peculiarly effective in conveying the fragmentation of colour in moving water in sunlight."

He experimented with stone sculpture and moved to Montmartre to be near his friend Pablo Picasso and other noted artists. Fernande Olivier, Picasso's mistress at the time, described Derain.

Fernand Mourlot:
Fernand Mourlot was born on 5 April 1895 in Paris, France. He was the sixth of nine children of Jules Mourlot and Clemence Gadras. In 1911, at the age of 16, he was admitted as a student to the École nationale supérieure des arts décoratifs where he studied drawing. After his studies he joined his father and older brothers in the family business, the "Imprimerie J. Mourlot". In 1914, Jules Mourlot, through the sale of Russian bonds, would begin expanding the studios, eventually opening a second location on rue St. Maur and purchasing Imprimerie Bataille on rue de Chabrol.

That year, the three eldest Mourlot brothers were also drafted into the French Army and sent to the front. Paul, the oldest brother, would be killed shortly after the start of the war. Georges and Fernand would remain in the army through 1918 and would both participate in many battles including the Battle of Verdun. While at the front, they would learn in 1917 of the death of their mother Clemence.

Upon their return, they rejoined their father in the business. Georges, the eldest, would head the operations of the studios, while Fernand would concentrate on the artistic side and business development. At the death of their father in 1921, the name of the studios was changed to "Mourlot Freres" (Mourlot Brothers), with Georges and Fernand heading the company, while the other siblings became minority holders in the business.
n 1923, Mourlot won a contract to produce an original lithographic poster to promote an exhibition of French Modern Art in Copenhagen, Denmark. A few years later, through the friendship he had developed with the writer Georges Duhamel, himself a former veteran of World War I, Fernand Mourlot met the painter Maurice de Vlaminck. In 1926 the three men worked closely on the production of what became the first of many illustrated books printed by Mourlot Studios. 1930 marked the start of another important and long lasting cooperation: the one between Mourlot and the director of the French National Museums. That year, the Studios printed a poster for the hundred year anniversary of Romanticism and another poster to promote the retrospective of Delacroix's work at the Musée du Louvre. These were followed in 1932 by a poster for an exhibition of Édouard Manet's work at the Musée de l'Orangerie, and in 1934, a poster of Honoré Daumier's work at the Bibliothèque Nationale.

By 1937, Mourlot Studios had become the largest printer of artistic posters and was often hired by French and foreign museums, such as the Tate Gallery, to produce high quality posters for their upcoming exhibitions. That year, two more historically important posters for Pierre Bonnard and Henri Matisse would be created for the exhibition of the Art Independent at the Petit Palais. They would lead to a crucial meeting between Mourlot and Matisse and would usher the next chapter in the history of the Mourlot Studios.

Condition report:

Good. Wear consistent with age and use.