Artist: Leonetto Cappiello Italian (1875-1942)
Title: Yvette Guilbert
Plate: LR C1
from "Le Rire"
Original page from the satirical weekly magazine, Printed in Paris 1899, no. 253.
Presented in 16 x 20 in. acid free, archival museum mat, with framing labels. Ready to frame. Shipped boxed flat via Fedex.
Certificate of Authenticity.
Sheet Size: 9 in x 12 in 23 cm x 31 cm
Price: $250.00
"Yvette Guilbert was one of the most famous of all the artistes of the Paris cafe-concerts in the late 1890's. She was renowned for her act in which she recited, rather than sang, songs with most scurrilous of words, clad in elegant but revealing dresses and wearing long black gloves. She would accompany songs with expressive gestures from her arms emphasized by these elbow-length gloves" (Weston No.4 1998, 43)
"In 1898 when he (Leonetto Cappiello) decided to pay a visit to his older brother who happened to be working for the Paris Stock exchange. Leonetto found Paris exciting, and wanted to stay longer, which meant he had to find a way to support himself. He approached two famous compatriots who happened to be in town, actor Novelli and composer Puccini, asked them to let him sketch their caricatures. They obliged, and Cappiello submitted the drawings to the humour magazine "Le Rire" they were promptly accepted, and were so well received by the public that he became, virtually overnight, the favoured artist of the Paris Theatre" (Rennert PAI-IX)
One of the magazines asked him to prepare his first poster (Le Frou Frou) for which he used the style of his "Le Rire" work, simple drawing and flat colour. From that point on he was inundated with commissions for posters. These early works he did for "Le Rire" were instrumental in the start of his career, and thus their importance to the serious collector cannot be overestimated.