?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 12,000 - $ 18,000
JEAN CARLU (1900-1997) GRANDES FÊTES DE PARIS. 1934. 44x60 3/4 inches, 112x154 1/2 cm. Alliance Graphique, Paris. Condition B / B-: restored loss in bottom right corner; restoration along vertical and horizontal folds; repaired tears and creases in image. Framed. In 1934, the French Ministry of Trade and Industry decided to coordinate a series of events under the name Grandes Fêtes de Paris. The idea was to promote tourism to the capital city in an attempt to fight off financial losses occurring as a result of the depression. Four of France's most prominent poster artists, A.M. Cassandre, Paul Colin, Jean-Gabriel Domergue and Jean Carlu, designed posters to advertise the event. Carlu had originally envisioned the elegant couple in a design for the cover of Vanity Fair in 1930, but this was never realized. In a 1980 interview he recalled, "I brought them back for the Fetes de Paris. The trace of the sinuous line reflects a greater freedom: the element of sensitivity outweighs the element of construction. The treatment of the background evokes the influence of [Raul] Dufy, who I greatly admire" (Reclame p. 101). From 1925 to 1930, Carlu's designs were influenced by the spatial nuances, angles and abstracted forms of Cubism. Here, the single-line effortlessness with which he renders the faces of this aristocratic couple belies the sophistication of the rendering which exudes style, elegance and wealth. The delightful, sensitive image is unusual in comparison with Carlu's normally sharper, Cubist style. Carlu also designed a poster for the event in the following year. This is the larger format. Carlu 39, Cartel Moderno p. 70 (var), Art Deco Graphics p. 112, Reclame 73 (var).
