AURIOL George (EN)

Biographical article

Childhood in Beauvais

Jean Georges Huyot also known as George Auriol was born on April 26, 1863 in Beauvais (AD 60, 2MI/ECA 057 R1, no 303) son of Claire Marie Joséphine Maillard (1837-1927) and Jean Huyot (1840-1894) a tax collector and post office clerk. Jean Georges studied in his hometown until the end of high school, showing a penchant for literature and the arts.

In 1881, his father, Jean Huyot was transferred to Lyon and then to Villers-Cotterêts the following year. The family moved twice. During his year in Lyon, Jean Georges wrote a series of comical and satirical articles for local newspapers. It was at this time that he chose the pseudonym George Auriol, which was probably inspired by the clown Auriol and thus keeping his middle name without the S. He repeatedly submitted his articles to Le Chat Noir, a new Parisian magazine that was in vogue. At first his mailings went unanswered, but Auriol persisted until one of his essays was accepted and published on August 25, 1883 (number 85). Encouraged by this success, he decided to move to Paris (Fields A., 1985, p. 19).

Montmartre and the Le Chat Noir

In the space of four months, between September and December 1883, Auriol managed to land a job in the Marpon & Flammarion publishing house Marpon replacing Henri Rivière (1864-1951) as editor-in-chief of Le Chat Noir; a position he would occupy for ten years. At this time he lived at 17 rue Racine (Fields A., 1985, p. 28).

The first “Le Chat Noir” cabaret, located at the foot of the Butte Montmartre, was created in November 1881 by Rodolphe Salis (1851-1897). Two months later, on January 15, 1882, the first issue of his newspaper of the same name was launched employing some 80 illustrators and columnists. These included such artists as Eugène Grasset (1845-1917); Théophile Alexandre Steinlen (1859 -1923); Adolphe Léon Willette (1857-1926); Alphonse Allais (1854-1905); André Gill (1840-1885); Caran d'Ache (1858-1909); Fernand Fau (1858-1915); Antonio de La Gandara (1861-1917); Henry Somm (1844-1907). They also included writers and poets such as Émile Goudeau (1849-1906); Narcisse Lebeau (1865-1931); Maurice Rollinat (1846-1903;, Léon Bloy (1846- 1917); Jules Jouy (1855-1897); and (Donnay M., 1926).

In 1884, Auriol began his mandatory three-year military service, joining the 67th infantry at the camp in Soissons. During his service he continued to write and send articles to the Le Chat Noir. Thanks to an intervention by Salis, Auriol was released after ten months of service, and returned to his position as editor-in-chief in September 1885 (Fields A., 1985, p. 28).

Auriol's career at the Le Chat Noi,r and especially with the encounters he made there, were decisive in his artistic development. Among those encounter was Rivière who passed on to him a taste for color woodcuts and Japanese prints while Grasset familiarized him with typography, ornamental design and illustration.

At the beginning of the 1890s, the Montmartre landscape had already changed considerably: with many cabarets opening, and the Le Chat Noir faced increasingly difficult competition. The newspaper also was shaken by the increasing number of new reviews published, and its sales decreased. In 1891, editor-in-chief Alphonse Allais resigned to set up his own newspaper while founder Rodolphe Salis was thinking of selling the Chat Noir, so Allais convinced Auriol and two other members of the periodical to buy it back. Thus, at the beginning of 1893, they made an offer of 5,000 francs for the cabaret, but they were too late: Salis had already sold the Le Chat Noir to Charles Gallot (1838-1919). Allais and Auriol tried in vain to buy the newspaper yet nevertheless, Auriol retained his post as editor (Donnay M., 1926).

The monogram

Having almost completely disappeared during the 19th century, the cachet, a stamp used as a signature, became popular again at the turn of the following century thanks to the second generation of Japanese style engravers, including Auriol. The latter was undoubtedly the first to perceive the monogram as a form of art in its own right, and when Rivière designed and printed his first print editions, it was only natural that he designed a personalized cachet. Auriol created seven of them in the Japanese style, using his friend's favorite flower, the iris. Rivière would then use it for all of his engraved works starting in 1888 (Sueur-Hermel V., 2009).

Until 1888, Auriol had signed his works only with his name. Yet, from 1889 onward, he used the monogram of a scarab beetle of which the antennae formed his initials G and A. This new signature attracted the attention of his friends and colleagues, who in turn ordered a personalized stamp from him (Le Chat Noir members: Allais , Jouy, Fau, Somm, Steinlen) being something he continued until the end of his life.

In 1900, Auriol decided to prepare a book of the monograms he had designed. Aided by the publisher Henri Floury (1862-1961), he published three volumes entitled: Le premier livre de cachets, marques et monogrammes (The first book of stamps, marks and monograms). The first in 1901 was prefaced by Roger Marx, the next in 1908 was prefaced by Anatole France, the third and last was published in 1924.

The mature period

By the end of 1892, Auriol had established himself as an established writer, graphic designer and illustrator, recognized both by those familiar with the Le Chat Noir as well as by Parisian publishers. The following year was pivotal for his career with a multitude of projects and commissions.

His first book, Histoire de Rire (1893), composed of several comic short-stories, was published by Flammarion. Seven other books would follow every year, all published by Flammarion: En revenant de Pontoise (1894), Contez-nous ça (1895), Hanneton vole (1896), Le Chapeau sur l'Oreille (1897), Ma Chemise Brûle ( 1898), À la façon de Barbari (1899) and La Charrue avant les boeufs (1900).

Auriol participated in his first exhibition with Société des peintres-graveurs français, at the Durand-Ruel gallery in 1893. He presented a set of seven color woodcuts in the Japanese style (Au Bois, Promenade, Enfant er jeune fille and four proofs of Voici l’iris en fleurs), two watercolors, a fan project and several marking plates of monograms alongside such artists as Félix Buhot (1847-1898), Jules Chéret (1836-1932), Henri Guérard (1846-1897), Pierre Georges Jeanniot (1848-1934), Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (1864-1901), Henri Rivière, James Abbott McNeill Whistler (1834-1903) and even Anders Zorn (1860-1920). These works are testament to the “Japonisme” influence. He was then nicknamed the “Japanese of Paris” (Alexandre A., 1899, p. 168) – in Rivière’s lesson, which announced the emergence of Art Nouveau ( Society of French Painters-Engravers, fifth exhibition, 1893).

This experience not only brought additional notoriety, but also encouraged him to continue his artistic experiments, particularly in the field of printmaking. In the months that followed, he frequently visited Eugène Verneau's printing press. It was during this time that he revealed his first edition of color lithographs, Bois frissonnants (1893), published by the prestigious L’Estampe Originale. The success of these lithographs motivated Auriol to explore this medium even further with a particular focus on book covers.

During this period, Auriol's style matured with his draying style becoming more simple, firm and vigorous. He continued to draw inspiration from plants and the female body. In 1893, Auriol received an order from Larousse to design the cover, flyleaf and illustrations for the Revue Encyclopédique. This was the beginning of a long collaboration with the publishing house (Fields A., 1985, p. 62).

The productive years

In 1895, Auriol exhibited a series of lithographs at the Centenaire de la Lithographie (Centenary of Lithography, 1895) as well as at the exhibition of the Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts (Catalogue of works of painting, sculpture, drawing, engraving, architecture and works of art exhibited at the Champ-de-Mars, 1895). In the same year – despite his refusal to be affiliated with the movement - he appeared at the Salon de l'art nouveau at the Galerie Bing (Salon de l'art nouveau, premier catalogue, 1896), in the sections “Paintings, Pastels, Watercolours, Drawings” (with a painting and a watercolour) and “Prints” (with two fan projects engraved on wood).

At the turn of the 20th century, Auriol and Rivière worked together on several occasions. In 1895, the two artists collaborated on a collection of poems and music by Fragerolle, L'enfant prodigue (1895), which Rivière illustrated, and for which Auriol designed the titles and the layout. It was on this occasion that Auriol met the music publisher Wilhelm Enoch (1840-1913), marking the beginning of a thirty-year long professional relationship. Enoch would entrust Auriol with designing the illustrations, frontispieces and the layout of many of his scores until 1929.

Auriol received his first foreign commission in 1897 for the cover of the Brussels monthly Le Thyrse. The following year, he designed color lithographs for the covers of several books: Bucoliques by Jules Renard (1864-1910), Les Modes de Paris and L'Art dans la Décorations Extérieuredes Livres by Octave Uzanne (1851- 1931).

Also in 1898, Auriol participated in a long-term calendar project presenting Rivière's Breton lithographs, for which he was once again in charge of the layout and the ornamental designs. Verneau was in charge of the printing and distribution. The Beau Pays de Bretagne edition was published annually until 1917.

During this time he met his future wife, Jeanne Docquois (1875-? ), the younger sister of his colleague Georges Docquois (1863-1927) from Le Chat Noir. She was 22 years old and Auriol was 34. They were married on October 26, 1898 in Jeanne's family home, in Boulogne-sur-Mer (Fields A., 1985, p. 77).

At the end of 1901, Auriol was contacted by the Peignot brothers who ran a large foundry in Paris. The Peignots had previously collaborated with illustrator and poster designer Eugène Grasset in 1899 so when they contacted Auriol for a similar commission, he took his role very seriously. Within two years, he produced new fonts and a hundred ornamental designs, including typefaces such as "Française légère" (1902), "Auriol" (1903), "Clair de Lune" (1904), "Robur" (1907) and “Cochin” (1914). This work established him as a reference in typographical design (Caradec F., 1981).

In 1902, Auriol was commissioned to produce the design and layout (box, cover and lettering) of Rivière's new limited-edition work, Les Trente-six Vues de la tour Eiffel.

Auriol published eight books between 1905 and 1920; the first five with Flammarion: L'Hôtellerie du Temps perdu (1905), Soixante l'heure (1908), Les pieds dans les poches (1910), Sur le pouce (1911), Le tour du cadran (1913), La lucarne (1914) et La Geste héroïque des petits soldats de bois et de plomb (1915), Les aventures du Capitaine Longoreille, lapin breton (1920).

The final Years

Jean Georges Huyot (1907-1950), the first and only child of George Auriol and Jeanne Huyot, was born on January 8, 1907. Auriol's professional activity was greatly reduced throughout the end of the First World War, being limited to writing short stories and producing a few cachets or personalized stamps.

As member of the Société des Amis de l’art Japonais, Auriol also designed several invitations for its monthly dinners between 1906 and 1930 as well as prints "in the Japanese style" signed in turn by Prosper-Alphonse Isaac (1858-1924 ), Jules Chadel (1870-1941) and various other contemporary engravers (Vabre E., 2009, p. 3-6).

Auriol thrived in the post-war artistic boom in Paris and once again collaborated with Enoch on music scores. More than thirty-five covers were produced between 1919 and 1922. He also collaborated with Larousse for a series of historical and scientific encyclopedias and a dozen educational works published in 1922. In 1921, he collaborated on La Lettre d'Imprimerie, a two-volume encyclopedic work dedicated to Auriol by author Francis Thibaudeau (1860-1925).

In 1924, Georges Lecomte (1867-1958), then director of the École Supérieure Estienne, offered Auriol a professorship in the history of typography. He then joined the monthly ABC magazine as a literary critic in 1926 (Fields A., 1985, p. 114-115).

On May 22, 1926, Auriol received the distinction of Chevalier de la légion d’honneur at the Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes (AN, 19800035/551/62987).

He published his last book in 1930 dedicating it to his former friend and colleague at Le Chat Noir, Théophile Alexandre Steinlen.

Auriol died at the age of 76 on February 6, 1938. His wife, Jeanne Auriol, inherited his property, design works and writings. She sold two hundred and fifty-eight works from this estate to the Bibliothèque Nationale at the end of 1938 (Fields A., 1985, p. 118).

Nature of the collection and testimonials

Henri Rivière wrote in his memoirs a story about how he and Auriol discovered Japanese art in Siegfried Bing’s gallery (1838-1905). At that time, they had yet to begin collecting due to a lack of finances, but were dazzled by Rivière’s ukiyo-e prints, and often visited to study them.

"George Auriol and I had a lot of admiration for Japanese art , which was then little known in France. Gueneau de Mussy was also an admirer and introduced us to Siegfried Bing in a hotel on rue de Provence which he had been frequenting for some time. We were allowed to browse albums and prints for long afternoons as our first initiation – knowing very well that we could not buy them - but we were in a form of training. We also cast curious glances at the showcases of lacquers, pottery, antique bronzes, saber hilts, rich embroidered fabrics: only contemplating them with our eyes, for the showcases were not opened to us. It is true that our preferences were especially for prints, which at that time were a novelty for Europeans.[…] And it was a great pleasure to discover one after another, beginning with primitives like Moronobou , with their prints in black as well as in two-toned black and pink followed by three-toned, black, pink and green (Kiyonobou), Massanonbou; and there were the polychrome prints (four, six or eight colors) the audacious simplifications of Korin, the precious Harounobou, the seductive Koriousaï, the elegant Kiyonaga, the graceful Outamaro, Sharakou, Sunsho, Toyokouni and so many others… And we found this designer of tireless invention, the “Old man crazy about drawing” as he called himself: Hokusaï… […] And finally it was the landscape painter Hiroshigé with his views of Tokaido, the vicinities around Yoddo, Fukiyama […] and all these landscapes made us want to go on a little trip to Japan! Gueneau also took us to Tadamassa Hayashi's.” (Rivière H., 2004, p. 89-92).

Auriol lived at 17 rue Racine in the Latin Quarter and moved to a larger Montmartre apartment at the end of 1892, which is described by Louis Morin (1855-1936) in the following text: ̏The amiable editorial staff secretary of Le Chat Noir lives on the rue des Abbesses, on the fourth floor, with a balcony overlooking all of Paris on which a blue Japanese flag floats. His studio is a large room, very soberly decorated, with delicate Japanese objects as well as reproductions from Flemish old masters and Botticelli, for whom M. George Auriol has a particular fondness. Long necked vases were placed here and there with blooming violet irises and rare orchids – the only luxury of this painter who is a lover of flowers and from which he creates such powerful decorative designs.” (Morin L., 1893, n.p.)