Yaneff.com

This comedic "slice-of-life" by Lefevre has long been celebrated for its wit, charm, and technique. Out of charcoal and in a pinch, an artiste-clown substitutes Cirage Jacquot & Cie shoe polish for face-paint – to the obvious hilarity of a third clown watching the ad-hoc switcheroo take place. The switcheroo is on us as well: we're now thoroughly invested in this ad, this art, this scene taking place – centered on something as profoundly mundane as shoe polish. Lefevre was Chéret's student, and here the student has outpaced his master. Chéret frequently has imp-like figures hovering, glowering just behind his posters' protagonists. Here, Lefevre converts the theme of surveillance into comedy, while making sure that we don't just get the joke – we're in on the joke. An ingenious bit of postmodernism in 1896, long before there was a word for such a thing. (Rennert)

“The life of Lucien Lefèvre is, to this day, very little known. He first studied industrial design and, perhaps, the art of portraiture, before exhibiting at the Salon des Indépendants in 1872 and 1873. Having become a pupil of Jules Chéret, and initially influenced by him, he began to practice the art of lithography at Chaix, then acquired a certain reputation as a poster artist from 1890. He appeared in three issues of the review Les Maîtres de l'Affiche (pl. 11, 55, 90). He remained active until 1902 and then we lost track of him.” (peoplepill.com)