Prouve, Victor Emile “The Kiss.” From "L’Estampe Moderne"

Victor Emile Prouve (1858-1943).  “The Kiss.”  From L’Estampe Moderne. 

Paris, 1898.  13 ¾ x 9 ½ (image).  Chromolithgoraph by L’Imprimerie Champenois.  Signed and dated in image.  Edition: 150.  Margins trimmed to image and print tipped onto backing paper at top as originally issued.  With L’Estampe Moderne blind stamp lower right corner of backing paper.  Tear in mounting sheet bottom left corner repaired.  Small chip in mounting paper right hand side.  Numeral “22” written in a circle in modern ink lower left corner of mounting sheet. Surface abrasion in image right hand side.  Else, very good condition. 

L’Estampe Moderne was published from 1897 to 1899 in two volumes comprising 103 prints.  Each issue came in a paper cover bearing an original lithograph.  The aim was to promote the art of printmaking.  Many accomplished European Art Nouveau painters contributed works to this publication such as Alphonse Mucha, Louis Rhead, Marcel-Lenoir, Henri Boutet, Henri Fantin-Latour, Edward Burne-Jones and Théophile Steinlen.  Each colorful lithograph was issued with a blind stamp of a young woman's profile in the lower right corner.