Notebook Thirty-six Views of the Tour Eiffel

Developed as wood engravings during the construction of the Eiffel Tower (1887–1889) and ultimately executed as lithographs using no fewer than five stones, this series of prints in twelve colors, produced in an edition of 500 copies on wove paper, was completed in 1902—exactly seventy years after its revered model, The Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji by Katsushika Hokusai (1760–1849). Henri Rivière (1865–1951), painter, printmaker, illustrator, and former artistic director of the Chat Noir shadow theater in Montmartre, expressed his passion for Japonism and technical mastery through varied compositions, perspectives, and atmospheres. This elegant oblong quarto was created with publisher Eugène Verneau, designer-poet George Auriol, and critic Arsène Alexandre.