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**Maurice Dumont (1869–1899)** was a French painter, lithographer, engraver, poet, and influential publisher whose short career bridged Symbolist circles and the emerging Art Nouveau printmaking scene. Born in Coutances and raised in Avranches, he trained at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris as a free candidate, studying under Léon Bonnat and developing expertise in various graphic techniques.
Dumont’s artistic output centered on original prints—lithographs, wood engravings, etchings, and his own inventions of gypsography and glytotypie (relief printing methods that created embossed effects). He worked in the Symbolist tradition, producing evocative, often literary illustrations and posters for the Théâtre de l’Œuvre, including programs for Ibsen’s *Brand*. His style combined delicate line work with atmospheric effects, reflecting the period’s interest in decorative arts and poetic imagery.
His most significant contribution was as publisher and driving force behind the ambitious album *L’Épreuve* (1894–1895), which issued more than one hundred original prints by some sixty artists. The deluxe editions featured works by Eugène Carrière, Maurice Denis (with whom Dumont was especially close), Auguste-Hilaire Leveillé (after Rodin), Louis Auguste Mathieu Legrand, Jean Danguy, Paul Edouard Crébassa, Gustave-Henri Jossot, Simon Albert Bussy, and Emile Coulon, alongside figures such as Paul Gauguin, Pierre Bonnard, and Édouard Vuillard. He also founded earlier ventures like the satirical *L’Art libre* (1890) and later collaborated on *Le Livre d’art* with Paul Fort.
Dumont’s legacy rests on his tireless promotion of contemporary printmakers through affordable yet high-quality albums and journals, helping to disseminate Symbolist and Nabi imagery. Despite personal tragedies and financial setbacks, he left a body of work that includes the poetic volume *Les Chimérales* (1893), suites such as *La Dame inexorable* (1894), and numerous illustrations. He died of tuberculosis at age twenty-nine; a 1991 retrospective at the Bibliothèque historique de la Ville de Paris and the Musée d’Avranches, followed by later exhibitions, has helped restore his place in fin-de-siècle French graphic arts. One of his collaborative prints from the *L’Épreuve* albums resides in the museum’s collection, exemplifying the vibrant network of artists he brought together.