Childs Gallery
Hidden Worlds: Prints and Drawings by Erik Desmazières
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Hidden Worlds: Prints and Drawings by Erik Desmazières
Erik Desmazières
Hidden Worlds, a new exhibition of work by French master printmaker Erik Desmazières, journeys through the artist’s intricately detailed spaces, revealing imaginary cosmos and surrealist views of everyday scenes. With the meticulous draftsmanship of Old Masters like Dürer and Piranesi, Desmazières creates works that envision new worlds - images based both on the artist’s imagination and experiences. The exhibition highlights Desmazières’ early work, heavy with fantasy and science fiction leanings, and is supplemented by later uniquely cerebral views of Parisian rooftops, arcades, and ateliers. Hidden Worlds explores these complexly inviting spaces through prints and drawings that span Desmazières’ nearly six-decade career.
A copperplate etching revivalist working in the genre of Art Fantastique, Desmazières’ work plays with both tradition and progression. Combining the past, present, and future, the artist displays his mastery of world-building, producing images and views of people, places, and things that never were, but certainly feel as if they could have been. His uncanny attention to detail and hand for atmospheric light and shadow brings to life scenes in a variety of reoccurring motifs: cities and buildings, battles and warriors, libraries and letters, wonder chambers and curiosities, comedies and characters. With each, the artist envisions an imaginary world unto itself, all demanding of a longer look, a deeper investigation into the singular world he has created. It is as if something more, something exciting, something important is happening right outside the boundary of the artist’s plate.
Image Credit:
Erik Desmazières, Ville rocheuse
Une Maman apprenant à son fils à voler
Erik Desmazières, French (b.1948)
1977
8 x 11 1/2 inches
Etching
Fitch-Febvrel 28. Number 82 in an edition of 90. Numbered in pencil lower left margin: "82/90"; signed and dated in pencil lower right margin: "Erik Desmazières 1977". A fine impression in fine condition. Sheet measures 13 x 17 1/4 inches.
$1,250
Erik Desmazières, French (b.1948)
Jardin en Italie
1978
8 1/4 x 11 1/2 inches
Etching
Fitch-Febvrel 31. Number 20 in an edition of 90. Numbered in pencil lower left margin: "20/90"; signed and dated in pencil lower right margin: "Erik Desmazières 1978". A fine impression in fine condition. Sheet measures 13 x 16 1/2 inches.
$1,750
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Childs Gallery Print Department
Ville imaginaire
Erik Desmazières, French (b.1948)
1990
7 x 18 1/2 inches
Etching, aquatint, and roulette
Fitch-Febvrel 124. Number 48 in an edition of 75. Numbered in pencil lower left margin: "48/75"; signed and dated in pencil lower right margin: "Erik Desmazières 1990". A fine impression in fine condition. Sheet measures 9 3/4 x 22 1/4 inches.
$1,650
Erik Desmazières, French (b.1948)
Galerie Véro Dodat
1989
17 1/2 x 24 inches
Etching, aquatint, and roulette
Fitch-Febvrel 129. Number 6 in an edition of 90. From the series Passages Parisiens - Projets d'Agrandissement. Numbered in pencil lower left margin: "6/90"; titled in pencil lower center: "galerie véro dodat (projet d'agrandissement)"; signed and dated in pencil lower right margin: "Erik Desmazières 1989". A fine impression in fine condition. Sheet measures 22 x 30 inches.
$3,500
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Erik Desmazières, Ville imaginaire
Ville rocheuse
Erik Desmazières, French (b.1948)
1999
7 x 18 1/2 inches
Etching, aquatint, and roulette
Fitch-Febvrel 172. Number 62 in an edition of 75. Numbered in pencil lower left margin: "62/75"; titled in pencil lower center margin: "Ville rocheuse"; signed and dated in pencil lower right margin: "Erik Desmazières - 1999". A fine impression in fine condition. Sheet measures 9 7/8 x 22 1/4 inches.
$1,200
Erik Desmazières, French (b.1948)
L'Atelier de Louis Icart
1980
23 1/2 x 16 1/2 inches
Etching and aquatint
Fitch Febvrel 58. Number 41 in an edition of 90. Numbered in pencil lower left margin: "42/90"; titled in pencil lower center margin: L'Atelier de Louis Icart"; signed and dated in pencil lower right margin: "Erik Desmazières 1980". A fine impression in fine condition. Sheet measures 26 x 19 3/4 inches.
$6,500
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Erik Desmazières, Wunderkammer II
Le Prince de Thulé
Erik Desmazières, French (b.1948)
1975
7 3/4 x 9 3/4 inches
Etching
Fitch-Febvrel 15. Number 65 in an edition of 80. Numbered in pencil lower left margin: "65/80"; signed and dated in pencil lower right margin: "Erik Desmazières 1975". A fine impression in fine condition. Sheet measures 11 x 15 inches.
$1,500
Erik Desmazières, French (b.1948)
La Tentation de Saint-Antoine
1993
29 x 35 3/4inches
Etching, aquatint, and roulette
Fitch-Febvrel 141-I. Number 21 in an edition of 75. Numbered in pencil lower left margin: "21/75"; titled in pencil lower center margin: "La Tentation de Saint Antoine"; signed and dated in pencil lower right margin: "Erik Desmazières 1993". A fine impression in fine condition.
$10,000
Wunderkammer II
Erik Desmazières, French (b.1948)
1998
10 1/2 x 21 inches
Etching and aquatint
Fitch-Febvrel 154 ii/II. Number 40 in an edition of 75. Signed and dated in pencil lower right margin: "Erik Desmazières 1998"; titled in pencil lower center margin: "Wunderkammer II"; numbered in pencil lower left margin: "40/75". A fine impression in fine condition. Sheet measures 13 3/4 x 23 1/2 inches.
POR
Born in Rabat, Morocco in 1948 to a French diplomat, Erik Desmazières has been described as arguably the finest French printmaker of his generation. After graduating from the Institut d'Etudes Politiques de Paris in 1971, he turned his attentions towards the arts, having drawn since childhood. He subsequently studied printmaking at the Cours du Soir de la Ville de Paris. During his career Desmazières has received the Grand Prix des Arts de la Ville de Paris, and was elected to the Société des Peintres-Graveurs Français, where he has served as President since 2006. He continues to be a force in printmaking, with solo museum exhibitions throughout the world, including major shows in France, the Netherlands, the United States, and Japan. Hidden Worlds marks the fourth solo exhibition of Desmazières’ work at Childs Gallery.