LEONETTO CAPPIELLO (1875-1942) POLAIRE / BOUFFES - PARISIENS. 1903. 55x39 inches, 139 1/2x99 cm. P. Vercasson, Paris. Condition B+: minor losses and repaired tears in margins; vertical and horizontal folds; creases in image. Framed. In 1901, Polaire, the wasp-waisted music hall star with a twisted face, was a huge hit starring as Claudine in a play she wrote (although credited to her husband Willy). In 1903, on the heels of that success, Willy wrote another play for Polaire, Le Petit Jeune Homme. As Gustave Kahn noted in La Revue Illustre, in August, 1906, "those silhouettes [of Cappiello's] of stars are theatrical portraits with the performers caught with the fundamental look of the role, in costume . . . Polaire was represented that way in this poster." The simple profile of Polaire in a suit was considered so successful that Cappiello used the same kind of design in 1904 for the next Willy/Polaire production, Le Friquet. Rennert / Cappiello 50, Wine Spectator no. 184, Grand Palais p. 94 no. 220.
