Auguste Lepère and the Renewal of Wood- engraving

When, around 1889, Auguste Lepère (1845-1918) returned to the old techniques of wood-engraving, he went against the tide of the evolution of engraving which tended towards the facsimile reproduction of drawings. Returning to the original woodwork tradition, the processes he reintroduced - grainwood engraving and knife-cutting - implied a particular sensitivity to the quality of the raw material. The exhibition, through the display of 42 pieces, traced this "back to basics" which opened the way to the engraved work of Gauguin, Vallotton, Henri Rivière...