A beautifully produced deluxe photogravure after Jean-Jacques Henner's celebrated Weeping Magdalene, published in New York around the turn of the twentieth century with contemporary pencil title and signature to the lower margin.

Bibliographic Details

Artist: Jean-Jacques Henner (1829–1905), after.
Title: Weeping Magdalene.
Publisher: Reinthal & Newman, New York.
Date: Circa 1895–1905.
Medium: Hand-coloured photogravure on heavy wove paper.
Presentation: Backed on card, mounted and housed within a cream window mount.
Mount Size: Approximately 49 × 39 cm.
Visible Image Size: Approximately 32 × 24.2 cm.

Condition

Presented within a later brown window mount. A small pale mark is present to the upper right corner of the print together with light age toning to the reverse. The image itself remains clean and well preserved, retaining rich tonal depth and attractive hand colouring. The manuscript pencil title and signature remain clear and legible. Please examine the gallery photographs carefully or request a more detailed condition report.

Description

A superb late nineteenth-century hand-coloured photogravure after Jean-Jacques Henner's celebrated Weeping Magdalene, published by the respected New York fine art publishers Reinthal & Newman. Produced during the golden age of deluxe reproductive printmaking, the work faithfully captures the soft tonal modelling, atmospheric lighting and rich colouring that established Henner among the foremost French Academic and Symbolist painters of the nineteenth century.

The composition depicts the penitent Mary Magdalene kneeling in quiet contemplation, her flowing auburn hair contrasting dramatically against the subdued background and dark drapery. Henner returned repeatedly to this subject throughout his career, producing some of the most evocative and emotionally charged religious paintings of the French Salon. His distinctive treatment of luminous flesh tones emerging from shadow became one of the defining characteristics of his work and is beautifully preserved in this finely executed impression.

Unlike ordinary reproductive prints, this example was produced as a luxury edition on heavy wove paper and enhanced with delicate hand colouring, lending warmth and subtle richness to the image while retaining the remarkable tonal depth characteristic of the photogravure process. The lower margin bears the publisher's imprint within the plate together with a contemporary manuscript pencil title, "Weeping Magdalene", and a pencil signature, "Henner". These graphite inscriptions appear to be contemporary additions and are not printed facsimiles. They have not, however, been authenticated as being in Henner's own hand.

During the closing decades of the nineteenth century, publishers such as Reinthal & Newman introduced the masterpieces of leading European painters to an affluent American audience through beautifully printed photogravures of exceptional quality. Today these deluxe impressions are appreciated not merely as reproductions but as fine examples of early photomechanical printing and decorative art in their own right, combining outstanding craftsmanship with the enduring appeal of nineteenth-century French painting.

Notes

A striking decorative print after one of Jean-Jacques Henner's most admired religious compositions. An attractive example of high-quality American photogravure printing, retaining contemporary pencil inscriptions and ideal for collectors of French Academic art, Symbolism and turn-of-the-century printmaking.