Untitled 1901

Henri Privat-Livemont made this unnamed artwork, in what seems to be a poster or printmaking medium, at an unknown date. The process here is all about layering, like building up flavors in a soup. Look at how he used flat color, not trying to create illusion, but decorative effect. There’s a real love of surface here, and a strong decorative element. The subject is an allegorical female figure, rendered in soft tones, almost like she’s emerging from a dream. I’m particularly drawn to the background, a pattern of red flowers and green leaves, it almost seems to vibrate. Livemont's flat color choices call to mind some of the poster work of someone like Alphonse Mucha, an artist who fully embraced the possibilities of printmaking for image making. In the end, art is always a conversation between artists and ideas, an ongoing process of exchange and reinterpretation. It invites us to bring our own perspectives and experiences.