Many artists can be credited with helping develop the interest in color printmaking in the Western Hemisphere.  However, only Henri Rivière (French, 1864-1951) can truly be called the father of this artistic development in Europe, and later the United States.  Years before artists consider the artistic riches provided by lithography in color, and at a time when Japanese woodcuts are making their way onto Western art markets, Rivière create color woodcuts and a few years later color lithographs.  These compositions are so far removed from the esthetic of late 19th century France that he does not immediately elicit praise.  But other artists, and a broader public, soon discover his amazing compositions.  From the late 1880’s to the onset of the First World War, Rivière is an artist whose colors and technique inspire whole generations.