ROGER PASSERON (born 1920), engineer and art historian, France. Drawings and prints.

At the end of his career as an engineer specialising in aerospace and industrial equipment, this son of Alfred Passeron, a print dealer in Paris, devoted himself to the publication of numerous works on engraving, including La gravure en France au XXe siècle (1970) and La gravure impressioniste: origines et rayonnement (1974), catalogues raisonnés of the engraved work of Michel Ciry, Mario Avari and Antoni Clavé, as well as works on the lithographs of Picasso, Chagall, etc.

Roger Passeron, "a passionate collector of fine engravings" as defined by Jean Adhémar, curator of the Cabinet des Estampes at the Bibliothèque nationale, collects prints from the 15th to the 21st century, works on paper and paintings from the 20th century, as well as some sculptures from the 19th and 20th centuries. Among the old prints, we note the names of Dürer, Robert Nanteuil, Piranesi, Goya and an important group of lithographs by Daumier (more than 700 pieces). Among the modern prints are Bonnard, Rouault, Picasso, Dunoyer de Segonzac (350 pieces), Masson (800 pieces), Clavé, Avati and Michel Ciry. The collection also includes drawings and gouaches by André Masson as well as books illustrated by the great printmakers.

On certain high-quality prints or drawings, Roger Passeron affixes his stamp, which is a display for printmaking boxes, commonly known as an 'X', with the collector's first name and surname on the side; or he simply writes his initials rp (L.4097). This stamp is mainly in red, sometimes in black, always on the back at the bottom right of the graphic works.

(Text from Frits Lugt, Les Marques de Collections de Dessins & d’Estampes)