In l’Isle Adam, Pierre Gatier unveils his prints!

parisdiaArt1 Comment

Revue Navale, 4 September 1911, in Toulon, ©Bibliothèqe de l’INHA-Collections Jacques Doucet

I had never heard of printer Pierre Gatier, 1878-1944, who concentrated on social life in Paris, elegant ladies of the turn of the century and boats. He made a name for himself with aquatint prints of the Belle Epoque. His first important collector was fashion designer Jacques Doucet whom he met in 1908, and who acquired 155 works of his. Doucet’s collection of 14 000 prints was bequeathed to INHA (Institut national d’histoire de l’art) who lent many pieces for the show. The little town of l’Isle-Adam is exhibiting 130 prints by this artist who lived there, in Seine et Oise, part of his later life. Visiting the Louis Senlecq museum was a good excuse to get out of Paris and drive to this elegant area which used to be the property of Prince de Bourbon Conti in 1746 and still is extremely pretty, with a beach on river l’Oise and many affluent houses. Photographer Jacques-Henri Lartigue lived there and gave his collection of paintings to the museum. The town is run, for the third generation, by a Prince Poniatowski. After Michel (the minister under Giscard d’Estaing) and Axel, now Sébastien (born 1979) since 2017. 

“The Super film Metropolis”, 1927, ©-Collection Felix Gatier, Jean-Michel Rousvoal

The first rooms of the small but pretty museum show Gatier’s aquatints. Very colorful prints made of four superimpositions of ink. Place Vendôme, Doucet’s couture house of rue de la Paix, A day at the races in Chantilly, the Walk on the Champs Elysées, all colors are incredibly well preserved and they represent an invaluable testimony of the fashions of the time. “The Yellow dress” by Doucet in 1912, “The Black dress” by Poiret also in 1912, show the contrast between the old style and the new. An interesting series of four prints of “L’Elégante de Montmartre” show the hard day of a prostitute…

“La rue de la Paix”, 1910, print and aquatint with a drawing at the bottom ©Bibliothèque de l’INHA, Collections Jacques Doucet

Later, after WWI, Pierre Gatier will switch to black and white and deliver striking chisel engravings. Bars and music halls are his favorite themes of “Les Années Folles” but also movies like Fritz Lang’s “Le super film Metropolis” in 1927, and “Le Tournebride” in 1923, a beautiful country scene with a road probably near l’Isle Adam. He portrays his wife dressed tot the teeth, having tea at the Lido on the Champs Elysées in pure 1928 fashion with a girlfriend. He also represents Louis Senlecq, the mayor of the town and the founder of the museum. As a doctor and a collector he was very close to Gatier. The doctor is shown treating his son Felix with a quartz lamp for a skin problem.

“Under the quartz lamp”, 1927, Doctor Louis Senlecq treats Felix Gatier, Musée Louis Senlecq, gift of Mr and Mrs Felix Gatier, 1987

His portrays of US military ships in 1918 and of transatlantic boats in the bay of New York later on, are the result of his attraction for the sea. He was born in Toulon, the son and grandson of marine officers and was  made an official  “Peintre de la Marine” in 1907. During WWI, he is used as a camouflage painter of submarines in Boulogne and in Rochefort. But he is also very attracted by mountains and the snow. He starts reproducing pictures of skiers (probably from posters) before ever having gone to the mountains and also paints Combloux near Megève.

The Skier, 1909, collection Felix Gatier

As always, this fairly unknown artist has many surprises for us. And the variety of styles in his works makes the visit to L’Isle-Adam Adam a very entertaining moment. Take time to have lunch by the river and enjoy the very pretty countryside not so far from Auvers-sur-Oise. Pierre Gatier’s grandson and Felix’ son, Pierre-Antoine, is one of the most celebrated architects of the moment since, as Architecte des Monuments historiques, he took part in many restorations such as Château de Chantilly and Bourse de Commerce.

Musée Louis Senlecq in l’Isle Adam

You can also look at the catalog signed by the curator of the show Carolina Oliveira, who runs the museum. There is an interesting text on Linogravure, a cheap process he used during the war, and in a text, Albert Vuaflart compares hims to Constantin Guys. The exhibition is on util October 3. The museum is closed on Mondays.

Nautile monté en hanap, XIX th century, Germany, Legs Rothschild, Ecouen, Musée National de la Renaissance

And if you drive another half hour to Méru, you will discover the Musée de la Nacre et de la Tabletterie (the mother of pearl museum) which has just opened an exhibit of  “Shells, from Science to kitsch”, which shows the importance of shells in art history from the pilgrimage of Santiago de Compostel to a shell from Madagascar sculpted with the eruption of the Vesuvius. (Méru, Musée de la Nacre until January 2).

Share this Post

One Comment on “In l’Isle Adam, Pierre Gatier unveils his prints!”

  1. Merci chère Laure pour cet article géniale ! C’est effectivement une belle découverte et le musée et moi-même sommes ravies que tu aies pu venir
    Véronique

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *