Christ on the Road to Emmaus
Le Christ et les Pélerins d’Emmaüs (descriptive French title)
Woodcut printed in three tones of gray on japon paper.
Reference: related to BN-IFF 27.
Likely a composition used in Evangile selon Saint Luc, published in 1932, which contains 83 woodcut illustrations in three tones by Jules Chadel. Only Luke’s gospel depicts the encounter on the road to Emmaus. Our woodcut printed on for the purpose of writing letters promoting his work. We have found such letters in the collection of the Bibliothèque Nationale (see one HERE). This was a way for the artist to promote his work, while also graciously giving away a work of art to a patron.
In this letter, Chadel tries to sell the aforementioned book, of which he seemed to still have had a few copies at the time. He offers to discount of a third, willing to sell the book for 3000 francs instead of 4500, upon recommendation of a common friend named Henri Prost, a famous city planner of his time.
Signed, dated, located and fully handwritten letter in purple ink.
Unique as such. Fine artists’ ephemeras from the interbellum, such as this one, have become extremely scarce. Such attractive objects are small windows into the lives of the intelligentsia of its time.
