The Golden Griffin Gallery operated in New York City from
the 1940s to the 1970s. In the 1950s, the Gallery formed a partnership with
Pellerin Imagerie, becoming the sole distributor for Pellerin Imagerie in North
America.
In 1796, Jean Charles Pellerin set up the “Imagerie
d’Epinal” and popularized printed images of everyday scenes. In 1810, Imagerie
d’Epinal make woodcuts of Napoleon by Francois Georgin, a renowned engraver of
that time. These were printed on Arches paper, from the town of Arches (which
was a near town to Epinal). In 1880, Imagerie began to print flyers for
businesses and political parties, alphabet literature and other educational
materials, riddles, illustrated songs, paper cutouts and plates of soldiers.
“Le Chat Botte,” “Cadet Roussel” and “Pierrete” were made at that time. Between
1880 and WWI, Imagerie sold more than 10 million pictures per year worldwide
and in many languages. The arrival of modern media slowed business after WWI
substantially. Épinal, France is best known for the "Images d'Épinal"
- which is now a common expression in French language - the popular prints
created by a local company, Imagerie Pellerin and the Pellerin family.
These pochoir (hand painted using templates) woodcuts of
military subjects, Napoleonic history, storybook characters and other folk
themes were widely distributed throughout the 19th century.