Louis Legrand, peintre-graveur: Catalogue de son oeuvre gravé et lithographié.

£1,000 · Offered by Maggs Bros Ltd

Louis-Auguste-Mathieu Legrand (1863-1951) was born in Dijon, where he studied painting at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts. He moved to Paris in 1884 and met fin-de-siècle master printmaker Felicien Rops who mentored him in the art of etching and lithography. A flavour of Rops’ eroticism is present in Legrand’s work, though his more darkly macabre themes are less pronounced. Like Rops, he often depicted prostitutes and scenes of Parisian nightlife, and at the turn of the century he even established his studio at the Moulin Rouge. Two of his satirical works “Prostitution” and “Naturalism” landed him in an obscenity trial, and Rops connected Legrand with a likeminded lawyer friend, Eugene Rodrigues, to defended him. Rodrigues was also a writer, bibliophile and bibliographer, publishing under the nom-de-plume “Erastene Ramiro”, and it seems their new friendship was more effective than his defence, as following a short prison sentence, the two men began collaborating on creative projects. The self-portrait frontispiece of this work is inscribed in the stone “a Eug. Rodrigues, mon meilleur ami.” Prior to this fine catalogue showcasing Legrand’s body of work, Rodrigues had produced similar publications with Felicien Rops, in both cases reproducing the artists engravings to the finest print standards. Legrand’s technical expertise was recognised by the academy, and he was awarded the Légion d’honneur in 1906. Loosely inserted into this volume is a rare separately issued piece of ephemera .

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