Algues marines (Seaweed), Pierre Roche

Artwork Overview

Pierre Roche, Algues marines (Seaweed)
Pierre Roche, Algues marines (Seaweed)
Pierre Roche
Algues marines (Seaweed)
1893
Pierre Roche, artist
1855–1922
Algues marines (Seaweed), 1893
Portfolio/Series title: L'Estampe originale
Where object was made: France
Material/technique: vellum; color gypsotype
Dimensions:
Image Dimensions Height/Width (Height x Width): 170 x 108 mm
Sheet/Paper Dimensions (Height x Width): 325 x 222 mm
Image Dimensions Height/Width (Height x Width): 6 11/16 x 4 1/4 in
Sheet/Paper Dimensions (Height x Width): 12 13/16 x 8 3/4 in
Mat Dimensions (Height x Width): 32 x 24 in
Credit line: Museum purchase: Letha Churchill Walker Memorial Art Fund and Lucy Shaw Schultz Fund
Accession number: 2000.0122
Not on display
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Exhibition Label: "Inspired by Japan," Mar-2003, Cori Sherman Being a sculptor as well as painter, Roche invented a type of sculptural relief color printing that he called ‘gypsographie.’ Gypsographs use a concave mold of plaster tinted with water-based color. The permeable plaster is quite fragile, and can only produce about one to four impressions before distintegrating. For large editions, such as the 100 impressions needed for this print to be included in the L’Estampe originale portfolio, the “gypsotype” is requred. This extra step saw the low-relief plaster matrix coated with copper or steel plating to enable it to withstand multiple passes through a mechanical press. Roche was a member of the Amis de l’art japonais club that met monthy from 1895 to1914, along with other artists included in this exhibition, such as Georges Auriol and Henri Rivière. His interest in Japanese design principles is revealed by the assymmetrical composition of algae and water creature balanced with non-decorated blank space. Japanese aesthetics places much value on the idea of “ma,” or the “space between,” which always plays an important role in composition.