Pauw (Peacock) - Samuel Lankhout & Co.

A striking Art Nouveau lithograph featuring a peacock amidst stylised foliage, rendered in high-contrast black and white with delicate yellow accents.

This lithograph, produced by the Dutch firm Samuel Lankhout & Co., captures the aesthetic sensibilities of the late nineteenth-century Art Nouveau movement. The composition features a peacock in profile, its plumage rendered with precise, rhythmic line work that emphasises the decorative potential of the bird's form. The background is a dense arrangement of foliage and flowers, creating a flat, graphic quality typical of the period's interest in stylised natural motifs.

The use of a stark black background provides a high-contrast stage for the white and grey linework of the peacock and the surrounding flora. Small, selective applications of yellow ink provide a subtle chromatic break, drawing the eye to specific blossoms scattered across the frame. This technique reflects the influence of Japanese woodblock prints, which were widely collected and studied by European artists during this era. The firm of Lankhout & Co., based in The Hague, was known for high-quality lithographic work, often collaborating with artists to produce posters, book illustrations, and decorative prints that bridged the gap between fine art and commercial design.

In this piece, the peacock is not merely a subject of natural history but a vehicle for pattern and rhythm. The tail feathers fan out to occupy the right side of the frame, their eye-like markings echoing the circular forms of the flowers. The overall effect is one of controlled, balanced ornamentation. The print demonstrates the period's preference for organic lines and the integration of animal and plant forms into a cohesive, non-naturalistic space. It remains a clear example of the graphic output from Dutch printing houses that helped define the visual language of the fin de siècle.