LEONETTO CAPPIELLO (1875-1942) CORSET LE FURET. 1901. 54 1/4x39 1/4 inches, 137 1/2x100 cm. Condition B: extensive repaired tears, restored losses and overpainting in margins and central image; restoration along vertical and horizontal folds. A feature in the wardrobe of all proper fin-de-siècle ladies, the corset provided an entire generation of well-dressed women incredibly slim waists, protruding breasts and prominent derrières. Le Furet ("Ferret," so named because of the animal's slim physique), a prominent corset company, commissioned many posters by prominent graphic designers. Manuel Robbe, Gaston Noury, Leonetto Cappiello and Roger Perot all designed posters for the company. Cappiello's image is "a somewhat daring design by 1901 standards" (Cappiello / Rennert p. 51), but the copy reads like a modern-day advertisement: "stays firm but doesn't restrain" and "the suppleness of the Orient with the charm of France." Cappiello / Rennert 20, Wine Spectator 210.
