Description
WHAT YOU GET!
We here at The Horton Collection have made special arrangements to meet with The Badger, Bernard Hinault, at his home in the Brittany region of France for two days. Hinault has agreed to personalize a small portion of the lithographs he will be signing for us.
This opportunity may not come around again. Apologies for the short notice, but Hinault only agreed to personalize 99 of each of the three prints a few days ago.
The Inscription Series – Limited Edition of 99 – $250 each
Last year, the signed and inscribed lithographs with Eddy Merckx sold out in a few days. Due to last year’s demand, we have decided to create a special “Inscription Series” for this and all future signings where a rider is willing to indulge us. The Inscription Series will be individually inscribed “To (Name Here)” and signed by Bernard Hinault and numbered to a maximum total edition of 99. When they are sold out, that’s it. Each print comes with a formal Certificate of Authenticity that forever guarantees the provenance of the signature.
Lithograph Size: 20×24 inches
The Image: 1979 Tour de France, Hinault in his legendary Renault Team Jersey
The Attack of the Badger was taken by famed Dutch photographer Tonny Strouken. For 30+ years, Tonny was one of the best cycling photographers in the business. His photos have been seen in magazines, books, and newspapers around the world. We are taking it as our mission to make sure cycling fans outside of Europe learn more about Tonny. Tonny’s style harkens back to the 1920s and is updated to reflect the shooting capabilities of contemporary cameras. He was a master at capturing crucial moments in race history. More important, he was one of very few cycling photographers who captured the soul of the rider. We have seen a fair amount of Tonny’s work, and it is breathtaking.
Quality: It’s all about the Press, Paper, and Deboss/Emboss
The Press
This year we were able to talk the print masters at AMP in Dublin California to print this otherwise micro-run on their $4,500,000 Heidelberg Speedmaster press. This is an end of the rainbow press and really expensive to operate. The press itself is about 100 feet in length from where the blank paper enters to where it comes out in all its radiant printed glory.
The Paper
We used 140-pound Mohawk brand paper. This awesome stock has a wonderful toothy feel that reeks of luxury. If the paper were any thicker, we would have to ship the prints flat.
Deboss/Emboss
We had excellent paper, stunning images, and a phenomenal press. We wanted more. We felt we were right at the precipice of perfection but needed to go a little further. At this point, we can’t recall exactly whose idea it was, but when the deboss/emboss idea emerged, we knew that was our missing link. An exorbitantly expensive process that includes multi-stage custom handmade dies, hyper-specialized machinery, and an ocean of patience to execute correctly, this alone is the pièce de résistance that elevated this endeavor to art. Take a look at the additional photos on this page. Essentially, the deboss is a large die that slams the paper precisely on the image line and leaves behind a striking beveled edge.
Embossing is the opposite of debossing. The emboss has the die coming from the bottom and pushes the paper up. We created a unique logo design special for our prints.
The debossed and embossed print has a beautiful finished look, it is ready to go straight into a frame. No mats needed.
Another benefit of this process is the ease of knowing the real product from a fake. Between the paper, the press, and especially the deboss/emboss process, the counterfeiters are going to move on to easier marks. What you will own is something that lies somewhere between extremely unique to absolutely never before seen quality in the cycling world. Can you tell we are proud of these?
BONUS
If you order two or more of any of the Hinault lithographs, we will include one of our new 18×24 inch Poster Art Series Limited Edition Prints at no charge. ($85 value). Trust us; you will like them. These prints were made at the same time as the Hinault lithographs using the same paper, press, and deboss/emboss process. Take a flyer. You will not be disappointed. We really do think they are that good. We will have images of the Poster Art Series in the shop next week once we get them back from the printer.
We will ship the lithos on or around December 11, 2019.
SHIPPING:
United States $10
Canada $30
Europe & Beyond $45
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