If I had heard about Grasset and Berthon, they were certainly names that were not front of mind when it came to art nouveau. Mucha, who was a contemporary, is certainly much better known for his designs and posters. But these two artists are certainly very impressive. One interesting thing that I learned from this book was that both Mucha and Grasset "rejected" art nouveau...basically because both were so steeped in the art of the past...and the high priests of Art Nouveau were rejecting everything from the past.
Grasset was the older (by about 10 years) and was also the teacher of Berthon. In fact, Grasset, really seemed to be a very good teacher and to both enjoy his teaching and to promote the careers of his pupils.
One little quirk was that with lithography, Grasset did careful watercolours first and reversed these onto the lithographic stone...whilst Berthon worked directly on the stone. Maybe more confidence in his own abilities? Grasset was content to leave the actual printmaking to craftsmen whilst Berthon was more involved directly in the printing process.
Lovely illustrations ...even if a lot of the work of these artists was lost ...especially because of the war years 1914-1917. Quite a lot is made of the Berthon maiden vs the Grasset maiden. The former more sensual ...looking straight out (well, sometimes anyway). Quite a nice reference book and, despite their claims about not being part of the Art Nouveau movement....both seem to me to be quintessentially significant exponents of the movement. Right up there with Mucha. I give it 5 stars. ( )