Menu Cover for Dinner of The Hundred Bilbliophiles

Couverture pour le Dîner des Cent Bibliophiles (original French title)

Color photolithograph printed on Rives wove paper.
Reference: Armond Fields 407.

Much like his friend Henri Rivière, who was his contemporary and for whom he designed both monograms and typographical work, George Auriol admired Brittany and depicted the picturesque landscape of “la Bretagne” in numerous works. In this well-balanced composition, made up of just three colors, the Japanese esthetic is obvious. Against flat colored areas of even tone two women welcome a tall ship nearing the coast. This menu cover was created for a group of one hundred book lovers who named themselves “Les Cent Bibliophiles”. They seem to have existed from 1895 into at least the late 1920s and possibly beyond. They held social gatherings and on occasion published prints and books. It seems to have been mostly a meeting for like-minded collectors of illustrated fine art books.

Signed with the monogram in the image.