ERNEST MONTAUT LE DIRIGEABLE "REPUBLIQUE". Circa 1910. 17 1/2x35 inches. M. M., Paris. Condition B+: minor tears at edges; skinning in lower right corner. Matted and framed. In lavender, brown, and red, the occupants of a red car are standing by the side of the road and gazing at a passing airship. One of the forefathers of automotive art, Montaut was also an aerial enthusiast, making this image a confluence of two of his favorite themes. In creating these panels, he used a painstaking lithographic process that involved "handpainting with watercolors, using a series of stencils, one for each color, positioned over the basic outline . . . and because each print was hand-made, no two prints are exactly alike".
