Les Derniers Rayons (original French title)
Lithograph printed in color on smooth wove paper.
Reference: Fields page 77.
Plate 16 from the series of 16 lithographs titled La Féérie des Heures.
Printed & published by Eugène Verneau, Paris.
Image size: 23 5/8 x 9 1/2 inches.
In 1901 and 1902 Henri Rivière drew a series of 16 color lithographs on stone in oblong format: La Féérie des Heures (ENG: The Enchantment of Hours). The format of these prints, generally printed in 12 colors, was inspired without a doubt by Japanese wall hangings (kakemono, kakejiku). The 7 vertical and 9 horizontal compositions lent themselves to depict impressionistic landscapes, focusing on the expansiveness of the seas and skies the artist inhabited one season each year. While Rivière only depicted a single clearly defined season with his snowy rendition of La Neige, what the series lacks for in “seasonality”, it makes up for in other diverse atmospheric effects.
