The complete collection of “Établissements Nicolas Maison Fondée en 1822 Lists Des Grands Vins“ includes 33 volumes. These were printed in Paris between the years 1929 – 1973. In the years 1937, 1940-1948, 1952, and 1968, no catalogues were published.
Initially, the catalog layouts were created by Alfred Latour. His son, Jean Latour succeeded Alfred in 1966. All of the catalogues were printed by Draeger Frerès founded in 1886, a French printing house located in Paris famous as a publisher of French masterpieces and pioneer in the field of advertising.
We are happy to announce that three Nicolas Catalogues have been recently obtained to add to the Wine History Project’s Nicolas catalogue collection. The collection owned by the Wine History Project represents the complete set of catalogues.
They include:
1931 EPH345
The artwork is by A.M. Cassandre (1901-1968). See also below. Cassandre, a pseudonym of Adolphe Jean-Marie Mouron, was a French painter, commercial poster artist, and typeface designer. He was known for his use of stencils and an airbrush to create his posters. He drew upon the styles of Cubism and Futurism for his inspiration. The star on the stiff spiral-bound cover is a cutout revealing the letter N printed in blue on stiff silver paper. There is an impressive color lithograph on the centerfold, signed A.M. Cassandre. The booklet is 24 pages in length, with wine bottles listed.
1936 EPH346
The artwork is by A.M. Cassandre (1901-1968). Continued from above. Cassandre was the most significant graphic designer of the interwar period. His prophetic name left an indelible mark on his era. He revolutionized advertising by establishing a dialogue between art and the public. There are a total of 48 pages. The book is formatted in a Japan fold, which can be used to describe a design where a printed piece is intended to be folded in a complex origami-like manner, creating a unique, interactive element. The typographical design on the front cover is shown, the catalog is organized in three chapters, and the title page is printed in three colors.
1950 EPH347
The artwork is by Rihaku Harada (1890-1954). Harada left Japan after abandoning law studies to pursue a career as a painter in France in 1931. Harada is a Japanese Asian modern and contemporary painter. He painted on silk. In 1950, Harada created illustrations for the 1950 Nicolas Wine catalogue. He is the only Japanese artist to have illustrated one of their catalogues; he painted despite partial paralysis in his hands. There are 32 pages in this small quarto catalogue; the format of this book is produced from full sheets printed with eight pages of text, four to a side, then folded twice to produce four leaves. The leaves are then trimmed along the folds to produce eight book pages. Each printed page presents as one-fourth the size of the full sheet. The color illustrations by R. Harada, are illustrated with six beautiful full-page watercolors and various small watercolors, all rendered lithographically. Most of them show with stamped signature or initials of the artist. The layout and typography are by Alfred Latour.
