La Sardinerie (Les Sables-d'Olonne)
Woodcut printed in colors, 1905-06, Curtis 57, edition 50. 10 15/16 x 7 3/4 in. Signed in ink in the lower left. Signed with a monogram in the block, lower right. This is a fine, luminous impression printed on thin Japanese paper. The margins are full. The condition is very good apart from very faint toning within an earlier mat opening. Joyau produced some wonderful woodcuts of his native France and he was influenced by the better known Henri Rivière. He was an etcher and painter and made about fifty woodcuts during his short career. Joyau saw an exhibition of Japanese woodcuts in about 1894 which proved to be an ongoing inspiration. He exhibited his woodcuts with the Société de la Gravure sur Bois (S.G.B.O.) and spent much of his time in Fontainbleau which provided a rich source of subject matter for his work. Les Sables-d'Olonne, the location for this print, is a seaside resort and fishing community on the coast of western France.
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