Tentation – Eugene Grasset, 1897

“Tentation” [temptation], lithograph from 1897, designed by Eugène Samuel Grasset and published by G. de Malherbe. Szie approx. 26 × 91 cm.

Eugène Grasset (1845–1917) was a Swiss graphic designer and illustrator who spent most of his career working in Paris, where he became one of the founding figures of Art Nouveau. Before devoting himself fully to graphic art, he experimented with ceramics and designed furniture and wallpaper. From around 1877 onwards, he focused almost entirely on illustration and lithography, producing book illustrations, calendars, magazine covers and decorative prints, and developing a highly distinctive visual language in which line, flat colour and ornament form a harmonious whole.

This so-called panneau décoratif forms part of the series “Dix Estampes Décoratives (caractères de femmes, fleurs emblématiques)”, issued in an edition of 750 copies. In this series, Grasset links female figures to symbolic flowers/plants and emotional states, in which decorative beauty and symbolic meaning are closely intertwined.

In Tentation, a young woman is shown in profile, standing before a fruit tree whose branches are heavily laden with light green apples. She reaches for one of the fruits and holds it in her hand, while keeping her other hand protectively against her chest. Her gaze suggests a hint of curiosity or wonder. The scene refers to the biblical motif of temptation, but without moral judgment.

The apple symbolizes desire, temptation and knowledge, but also hesitation and inner doubt. Grasset presents the motif not as an action with consequences, but as a moment of contemplation.

The decoratively stylized leaves, the repetition of forms in the background, and the carefully balanced colour palette structure the composition and give the work a restrained, focused character. In this way, Tentation is representative of Grasset’s approach within early Art Nouveau, in which symbolism and decorative design are closely intertwined.

Prijs: Euro 2.150,-