Henri Le Riche, “La Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Reims”, c. 1900

Henri Le Riche (also known by the pseudonym Hirné) (1868–1944)

“La Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Reims”, circa 1900

Technical Details & Condition:

Etching with drypoint and aquatint on tissue-thin buff Japanese paper, pencil-signed by the artist at lower right and laid upon a backing sheet to give support and generous margins. This is a superb proof-state impression created before the addition of lettering, distinguished with two remarque images in the lower margin: on the left, a kneeling female with her hands clasped at her knees; on the right, a figure mounted statuesquely on horseback (possibly facing backwards), banishing a sword. Aside from a pencil notation on the lower edge at left, the sheet is in pristine condition—free of tears, holes, folds, abrasions, stains, or signs of handling.

The etching depicts the renowned Reims Cathedral in France, celebrated for its iconic façade and historically significant as the traditional coronation site of French kings. Tragically, this spectacular Gothic monument suffered damage when it was bombed and burned in September 1914 during the First World War. Fortunately, the cathedral was rebuilt in 1938; however, the stained-glass windows were remodelled rather than faithfully replicated from the medieval originals. For more detailed information about the history and significance of Reims Cathedral, visit Reims Cathedral - UNESCO World Heritage Centre (https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/601/).

Dimensions:

• Sheet: 51.2 x 35.4 cm
• Platemark: 37.1 x 25 cm

Price & Shipping:

AU$271 (approximately US$184.45 / €157.76 / £137.41), including worldwide express shipping. Please note that import duties and taxes are the buyer’s responsibility.

If you are interested in acquiring this pencil signed, proof-state large etching of the magnificent Reims Cathedral, please contact me at oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com. I am happy to provide a secure PayPal invoice for a seamless purchase.

This print has been sold

Henri Le Riche, “Une Vue de Cathédrale Notre Dame de Paris”

Henri Le Riche (aka by pseudonym “Hirné”)  (1868-1944)

“Une Vue de Cathédrale Notre Dame de Paris”, early 1900s

Etching, engraving and drypoint with plate tone on very thin China paper

Signed in pencil by the artist (lower right)

Size: (sheet) 22.2 x 14 cm, (plate) 17.4 x 10.2 cm

Condition: pencil signed, superb impression, delicately wiped to achieve slight variations of plate tone, in near faultless condition.

I am selling this poetic etching of the famous Notre Dame Cathedral by Le Riche for AU$198 (currently US$134.73/EUR115.25/GBP100.35 at the time of posting this print) including postage and handling to anywhere in the world.

If you are interested in purchasing this very romantic view of the Notre Dame by a prominent sculptor, painter and printmaker at the dawn of the twentieth century—in the sense that he was a full member of the Societe Nationale des Beaux-Arts and, in 1922, he was awarded both a Gold Medal and the Chevalier de la Legion d'honneur from the French government— please contact me (oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com) and I will send you a PayPal invoice to make the payment easy.

Le Riche studied under Bourguereau and Robert-Fleury but the simple visual poetry of this view across the Seine to the Notre Dame in the distance is far from the style of his teachers. This is an unpretentious image but one that has been executed with subtlety and knowledge. It presents the artist’s very personal response to seeing the cathedral with all its familiar attributes of flying buttresses, dual towers and sky-piercing spire, clouded in mist on a grey day in Paris.

What I love about this print is the artist’s use of contrast. For instance, note how the dark tones of the moored boat in the foreground, along with the dark leaves dangling from above, create pictorial depth by their contrast with the much lighter tones of the distant cathedral and sky.

In one sense the leap between the two tonal extremes of dark foreground and light background expresses space. In a very different reading, however, the suggestion of space is modified by the vertical orientation of the marks. To my eyes, the constraint posed by the use of vertical lines lends the print a spiritually transcendent quality. Or to express this differently, instead of a viewer reading INTO the image the viewer reads UP the image to heaven above: a contrast between the temporal world and the spiritual world.