Clown à la Fleur de Lis (Clown With a Fleur de Lis)
Etching, 1928, Carpentier-Lebeer 40, edition 100. 9 1/4 x 5 1/2 in. Signed and dated in the plate. Signed and numbered in pencil. This is a fine impression printed on cream Japanese paper. The margins are full. The condition is excellent. Technically superb, Jespers' etchings are subtle and understated. The quality of his draughtsmanship is really quite stunning and he might be best described as a poetic expressionist.
SOLD

Clown et Accordéon
Etching, 1928, Carpentier-Lebeer 32, edition 100. 9 1/4 x 5 3/4 in. Signed and dated in the plate, lower left. Signed, titled and numbered in pencil below the image. This is a fine impression in fine condition. Full margins. This is a fine example from his celebrated series of clown prints. Many oils were done in addition to the prints and several impressions were hand colored by the artist.
$1,400

Clown jean (Clown assis)
Etching, 1927-28, Carpentier-Lebeer 8, edition 100. 10 1/2 x 8 1/16 in. Signed in the plate and signed, titled and numbered in pencil. This is a fine impression in fine condition. The margins are full. Jespers liked to print on a fine cream colored wove paper. The artist actively exhibited his prints throughout his life and most of them are from the 1920s to mid 1930s. He did a small group of lithographs and woodcuts as well.
$1,600

Femme du Port (Woman at the Port)
Drypoint, 1927, Carpentier-Lebeer 50, edition 30. 9 3/8 x 7 in. Signed and numbered in pencil. This is a superb impression printed on cream Japanese paper. The margins are full. This potent modernist image relates to a painting he did called "Oostendse Vissersvrouw," meaning "Ostend Fisherman's Wife." This is a rare work and an especially fine example of Jespers' printmaking during the 1920s.
SOLD

La Personne Récompensée
Linocut, 1919, Buyck 204f, edition unknown but probably 50 or fewer. 23 1/2 x 12 3/8 in. Bearing an ink signature and dated lower left "5/9/19." This large and remarkable linocut was published in the portfolio "Six Linos" (1919). Jespers produced these works early in his career and they are quite rare. A fine impression with full margins. Mounted to a support sheet. Printed on thin wove paper. Minor tears with just one touching the image at top. Jespers has been the subject of several retrospectives including a 1989 show at the Musee des Beaux-Arts in Antwerp. This print is beautifully framed.
SOLD

Portrait
Woodcut, circa 1923, very small edition. 10 5/8 x 8 in. Signed in pencil, lower left, and also inscribed "proefdruk." This is a superb impression of this extremely rare print. The margins are full and the condition is very good apart from an old vertical stain along the extreme right side of the margin. This remarkable woodcut is from the collection of Paul van Ostaijen (1896-1928), the prominent Belgian avant-garde poet, and a close friend of the artist. Another impression was exhibited in the 1989 Jespers retrospective in Antwerp at the Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten (1990). (Catalogue referencences: Retrospectieve Tentoonstelling Floris Jespers 1889-1965; Jean F. Buyck/Geertrui Schoeters.) Jespers' work is not well known in this country but his paintings, prints and drawings place him in the forefront of the Belgian modernist movement. The influence of African art is especially evident in this compelling woodcut.
SOLD

Scène de Cirque (Circus Scene)
Etching, 1930, Carpentier-Lebeer 33, edition 100. 11 5/8 x 9 1/4 in. Signed in the plate. Signed and numbered in pencil. This is a superb impression printed on cream wove paper. The margins are full. The condition is excellent. Jespers is one of the preeminent Belgian avant garde, modernist printmakers of the 1920s-1930s. He was good friends with the poet Paul van Ostaijen and contributed to the publications Ca Ira, Le Centaure and Sélection, among others. His produced several outstanding clown images during this period and collectively they represent a dynamic chapter in the development of modern Belgian printmaking.
$1,800