La Vague – Henri Privat Livemont, 1897

ICONIC ART NOUVEAU POSTER

“La Vague” [The Mermaid], colour lithograph with gold, designed by Henri Privat-Livemont, printed in Brussels, 1897. Size (border): 32 × 50 cm.

This poster by Henri Privat-Livemont (1861–1936) ranks among the most characteristic and poetic expressions of Art Nouveau. At its centre appears a mermaid who merges with the rhythm of the sea, a mythical figure in which nature and ornament are inseparably intertwined.

The composition draws upon one of the principal sources of inspiration for Art Nouveau: the Japanese woodblock print. In particular, the influence of Katsushika Hokusai’s celebrated print “The Great Wave off Kanagawa” (c. 1831) is clearly recognisable. The monumental wave, which in the late nineteenth century was often understood as a symbol of change and renewal, exerted a powerful fascination on European artists.

Privat-Livemont reinterprets this Japanese motif in a symbolic manner. Whereas Hokusai’s wave is defined by explosive movement, the waves here appear to solidify into sharp, almost crystalline forms reminiscent of icicles. Water is presented in multiple guises: as the rolling sea, foaming surf, clouds on the horizon, and as foam and seaweed interwoven with the mermaid’s long, flowing hair. Her luxuriant hair echoes and amplifies the rhythm of the waves, causing figure and nature to visually merge.

At the same time, Privat-Livemont connects the motif of the wave with a thematic approach closely aligned with Symbolism. Amid the violence of the sea, the mermaid retains a striking calm. Her open gaze and sharply defined profile contrast with the surrounding turbulence, as if she is not carried along by the water but is its very embodiment. She appears less as a vulnerable mythical creature than as an enigmatic, almost timeless presence that personifies the power of the sea.

With La Vague, Privat-Livemont unites decorative elegance, Japonisme, and refined visual language into an iconic work of Art Nouveau, in which movement and stillness, natural force and feminine mystique are held in careful balance.

Price: Euro 5.500,- (incl. frame)
SOLD