Yaneff.com

Full size sold for $ 4,140 US Poster Auctions International, NY. Nov 2003

An extremely popular maitre image owing to the wonderful combination of the child, the dog, and chocolate milk. Set against a vibrant red and blue background, Lefeve creates a design worthy of his mentor Jules Cheret, whom Lefeve was a pupil of when he worked at the Chaix printing shop.

"Obviously the concept of sharing hasn't made its way into this hot chocolate loving lad's lexicon as of yet. But can you really blame him. We're not talking about any old cocoa here. That's a bowl of Cacao Lacte he's keeping from the begging pup at tongue's length, "the most superior of all known chocolates and cocoas," no doubt made that way from the kiss of milk hinted at in the beverage's name. While only producing posters since 1893, Maindron wrote in his 1896 book that Lefevre, who received his training from Cheret, was mapping out an active career in which he was showing not only much promise, but an individual style whose work to date (including this image) could only be judged as "outstanding" (pp. 82-83)" (Rennert, PAI-XXXVII, 367)

“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)