| Click here to go back to Kimberly Crick's main art gallery. Note about the images on this page: These works by Paul Berthon were published prior to 1923 and are, to the best of my knowledge of US copyright laws, in the public domain. You may save these images for your personal use, but please do not hotlink! (Save them to your own computer, don't take the -image link- from this website since that hurts my website speed! But, feel free to link people to this web page so they can come see the images themselves.) Thank you and enjoy :) Welcome to my information page on the Art Nouveau artist Berthon, Paul Emile (Chartrettes, 1872 - Paris, 1909) I have a deep love for art and a burning desire to spread the knowledge of under-appreciated artists. Berthon, being my all-time favorite artist, is in dire need of publicity. His artwork has been a true inspiration to me. I first stumbled onto his artwork when I saw an Art Nouveau poster during an onlne image search. Thinking I'd just hit the jackpot I eagerly looked up "Paul Berthon" in every search engine and art print shop. Much to my dismay what I found was slim pickings, most places at best have his one fairly popular one (The "L'ermitage" woman with lily flowers.) I did run into a few places with a wider selection (about six or seven art pieces) that were over priced and not even his best works. While I can't display all of his works here, I hope to at least give a better idea of his talent and pass on the inspiration to you. Books and Poster Prints: Currently there are zero books in print about him, but I did get my hands on an out of print book called "Berthon & Grasset" by Victor Arwas. I highly recommend this book for lovers of Art Nouveau (also featuring the artist Eugene Grasset.) It is a quality hardcover with many color illustrations. If you can find it used (try Amazon.com) This is my main source of information and images on this page. While you will find some of his work at online poster stores, many are pricey (I found them between $60- and $2,000-, depending on the rarity of the design and date of reproduction.) My best advice to you is to browse Ebay for "Berthon" or "Art Nouveau Poster" to see what is currently available. I've gotten lucky by checking frequently for new auctions, scoring a number of posters for $10 to $20. (This page is currently under construction, more info coming soon!) The life of Paul Berthon: Unfortunately very little is known about this artists short 37 yr life. A large collection of his work seems to have been destroyed during the world wars. By the start of the First World War the Art Nouveau movement had lost its momentum. The posters of Berthon, Grasset and Mucha were no longer prized possessions, and many of the posters were lost. During the economic depression that followed World War II many of the lithographic posters were used as wallpaper or wrapping paper. Paul Berthon first studied as a painter in Villefranche before coming to Paris in 1893. There he enrolled at the Ecole Normale d'Enseignement de Dessin, receiving lessons from Luc-Oliver Merson. Yet the greatest influence upon Berthon came from his teacher of Decorative Arts, Eugene Grasset (1841-1917). Grasset's impact upon the early formation of the Art Nouveau movement had been vast and both Berthon and Mucha acknowledged him as the single greatest influence upon their art. The graphic oeuvre of Paul Berthon consists of ninety-four original lithographs. Almost two-thirds of Berthon's original lithographs are what the artist termed, "Panneaux Decoratifs". Unlike most Art Nouveau posters, Berthon's panneaux decoratifs included no advertising and no letterpress. They were meant to stand alone as significant works of art in their own right. |
