The Fancy Goods Store, 1902
Price range: £125.00 through £225.00
A crush of shoppers in winter coats and feathered hats fills Le Bon Marché in Paris, one of the world’s first modern department stores, under globe lamps and balconies stacked with goods. At the centre a woman in scarlet stands alone, and to her right a woman in green leads a red-haired little girl in orange. Of the whole crowd, only the woman in scarlet and the little girl look back at us. Alexandre Lunois made this colour lithograph in 1902, at the height of the Belle Époque’s love affair with shopping.
Warm reds, ochres and mossy greens give it the glow of a winter afternoon. Lovely in a hallway, a dressing room or anywhere that enjoys a bit of bustle.
The print
Print Quality: Gallery-standard archival pigment giclée, made to order
Media: Authentic 310gsm Hahnemühle German Etching, mould-made in Germany
Texture & Tone: Warm white with a soft, velvety texture
Longevity: Museum-grade, generational permanence
German Etching’s gentle texture suits a colour lithograph like this, echoing the grain of the original print and keeping its reds and ochres warm.
Sizes available:
45×42cm, 18×17″, fine art print, open edition
65×60cm, 26×24″, fine art print, open edition
86×80cm, 34×31″, fine art print, open edition
Safe, tracked delivery guaranteed worldwide, with sustainable packaging.
The story
Alexandre Lunois (1863–1916) was a French painter and printmaker who helped turn colour lithography into a fine art in the 1890s. He was known for printing soft washes of colour from the stone, so his prints look more like paintings than posters, and he travelled widely, bringing back scenes from Spain and the Netherlands.
At home in Paris he drew modern life, and here he chose Le Bon Marché, widely recognised as one of the world’s very first modern department stores. It was the perfect stage for a shift in French society: the birth of mass consumer culture and modern fashion, and the transformation of shopping into a public spectacle, something people did for pleasure as much as need.
