GASTON DE FONSECA (1874-1954) [TWO MAQUETTES.] Sizes vary. Condition varies Fonseca was born in Rio de Janeiro, but moved to Paris where he had a successful career as an illustrator and an academic painter. His paintings were exhibited at both the Salon des Artistes Francais and the Salon des Independants. These two gouache and chalk studies show that his graphics had a strong sense of movement and that he knew how to organize the elements to construct a good poster. The Concours de Bijou (which seems never to have been realized as a poster) is a night-time scene on Paris' haugt Place Vendome, in which elegant women with flamboyant feathered hats are framed in the window of a jeweler's shop, admiring the wares. The second study (with Fonseca's studio stamp on the back) is an original sketch for his classic automobile poster, for the 12th Salon de l'Automobile, in 1910. In this he illustrates the brightly lit Grand Palais as seen from the Alexandre III bridge; the cars are only suggested by rough, vivid strokes of white chalk.
![GASTON DE FONSECA (1874-1954) [TWO MAQUETTES.] Sizes vary.](https://catalogue.swanngalleries.com/full//214\550214.jpg)
