LEM (DATES UNKNOWN) JUANITA DE FREZIA / FOLIES BERGÈRE. 1899. 47 3/4x35 3/4 inches, 121x91 cm. Chaix, Paris. Condition B+: restoration and overpainting in upper right corner and text; restoration along vertical and horizontal folds. Nothing is known about Lem, a competent imitator of Pal, except that he designed a handful of posters around the turn-of-the-century. Many performers tried to follow the success of Caroline Otero (La Belle Otero) who garnered great fame as a Spanish dancer. Jaunita de Frezia came the closest to achieving similar fame. That the Folies-Bergère would commission this poster for her is an indication of her success. Juanita's other major contribution to fin-de-siècle lore was that one evening while dining in Maxim's with a Russian grand duke, a young man tried to flirt with her. Furious, the performer threw her shoe at the young man, who filled it with champagne, and returned it to Juanita with a bouquet of orchids, thus beginning the legendary and decadent trend of drinking champagne from a woman's shoe.
