Eugène Viala (1859-1913) - Lot 262

Lot n° 262
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Estimation :
1200 - 1500 EUR
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Result : 1 582EUR
Eugène Viala (1859-1913) - Lot 262
Eugène Viala (1859-1913) Gestes de la terre. 25 etchings by E. Viala. 1911-1913. An oblong album [330 x 260 mm], in sheets, containing 25 prints including a title. Etching (with aquatint for the title). Costecalde 342 to 366. Very fine proofs on cream laid paper watermarked "Rives / Eug. Delâtre" followed by a table of subjects. Some very slight foxing. Large, light moisture rings from pl. 17 to pl. 24. Full margins. Grey vellum-filled dust jacket, with title repeated on upper cover, with pencil notation "numéro 46" in lower right-hand corner, table repeated on 3rd cover, with a few short tears to edges. Edition of 125 copies. "Born in 1859 in Salles-Curan (Aveyron), Eugène Viala was a multi-faceted artist, aquafortist, poet, painter and watercolorist. From 1877 to 1879, he studied at the Beaux-Arts in Montpellier, then moved to Paris in 1881 to attend the Académie Jullian, where he was a pupil of Ernest Hébert (1817-1908). From 1884 to 1889, he frequented the Montmartre and Montparnasse districts with a group of friends, all passionate about poetry, painting and ideals. He returned to Rodez in 1889, working as a photographer to support his family and bring up his four children. From 1890 to 1900, he alternated between Paris and Rodez to sell his work. This free-spirited, even anarchist, nature-loving artist led a tragically poor life, but never abandoned his fierce will and creative fever, until Maurice Fenaille, a major industrialist and patron of Rodin, Camille Claudel and Bourdelle, came to support his creation at the beginning of the 20th century. Eugène Viala died prematurely following an accident, at the age of 54. [It was in the etching technique] that his art developed and found its uniqueness. Viala's etchings are divided into two main themes: biting visions, desolate allegories and more realistic yet sombre landscapes, inspired by certain austere aspects of his native Lévezou. Here, Viala developed an undisguised taste for figures of tormented trees, battling against the elements. His prints are marked by a form of dark romanticism, punctuated by dreamlike visions. [...]. The fantastic, visionary dimension of his work places Viala in the tradition of the painter-engravers who, from Francisco de Goya to Rodolphe Bresdin and Odilon Redon, were adepts of the suggestive power of black ink". (Fondation Taylor, exhibition Eugène Viala - La Cendre du rêve, March 13-May 3, 2025). The copies of this suite, published by Eugène Delâtre after the artist's death, were to have been signed sheet by sheet, as announced on the title at the foot, but the artist died of an accident before he could do so.
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