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1953, Bull-Branding

Taille Douce | Collection particulière

Living in Provence gave Parisian Mennessons the opportunity to watch trades that were unfamiliar to him, such as the blacksmith’s “bull-branding”. In this work he uses an etcher’s needle, a technique he had learnt in Flocon’s and Friedlander’s workshop. However this technique is not so often used in his work as lino-etching and wood-engraving. Thus, in this unusual work, the strongly structured composition revolving round the centre simplifies the shapes of human beings and of the animal and brings out the contrast between the dark subjects and the light background by thickly-drawn strokes. The whole scene recalls the “alleged” artlessness of everyday life and works dear to mediaeval artists.

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