Grand-Papa; Si c'était
Medium
lithograph in black on wove paper
Dimensions
sheet: 24.4 x 31.9 cm (9 5/8 x 12 9/16 in.)
Classification
Department
CG-E
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Gift of The Atlas Foundation
Accession Number
1995.76.34
Art Historical Context
Henri-Gabriel Ibels created this intimate lithograph in 1895, during the height of France’s Belle Époque. A member of the Nabis group alongside artists like Pierre Bonnard and Édouard Vuillard, Ibels embraced printmaking as a modern, accessible art form that blurred the line between fine art and popular culture. The title *Grand-Papa; Si c’était* hints at a tender, narrative scene—perhaps a grandfather recounting stories—reflecting the Nabis’ interest in everyday domestic moments rendered with decorative simplicity. Printed in black on wove paper, the work exemplifies lithography’s rise in th...
About the Artist
Henri-Gabriel Ibels
Henri-Gabriel Ibels (1867–1936) was a French illustrator, printmaker, painter, and author born in Paris to parents of Dutch ancestry. His early life remains sparsely documented, but he trained at the Académie Julian alongside fellow students Pierre Bonnard and Édouard Vuillard, where Paul Sérusier mentored him into the nascent Nabis group. In 1889, Ibels became a founding member of Les Nabis along...