KEES VAN DONGEN (1877-1968) LES PETITS LITS ROSES. 1933.
50 3/4x34 3/4 inches, 129x88 1/4 cm. Chabrillac, Toulouse.
Condition B: staining and darkening throughout; creases and rippling in image; tears and repaired tears in margins; separating from backing at edges.
Although he was one of the most flamboyant Fauvist painters, Van Dongen left the world of Avant-garde art behind and became one of the leading portraitists of fashionable French society, working on the Riviera during the winter and in Deauville during the summer. He designed a number of posters, a few of which were for society events such as balls and expositions. His most famous was for the Parisian Bal a l'Opera des Petits Lits Blancs in 1920. In 1933, Toulouse held a similar event in benefit of children's hospitals. The event's name comes from Toulouse's nickname of "the pink city," because of the color of the stones used in the construction of many of the city's buildings; van Dongen delivers a charming image of a baby holding a pink rose. This image was also issued in a smaller format. rare. Juffermans p. 174.