?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 1,500 - $ 2,000
RENE ALBERT (DATES UNKNOWN) BAS LE PAON. 61 3/4x42 1/2 inches. Edia, Paris. Condition B+: areas of restoration along vertical and horizontal folds. The artistic conceit of a woman descending a staircase was already well established in the public's consciousness by the time of this enchanting image. This connection existed from Marcel Duchamp's Nude Descending a Staircase (1913), to the actress Cecil Sorel's famous, flirtatious ad-lib at the Casino de Paris, "Did I descend it well?" (1933) to the, now near-iconic image of Leonetto Cappiello's Nitrolian (1929). This seldom-seen poster for stockings shows a woman descending rudimentarily outlined steps. The beauty, elegance and sheen of her legs in their stockings is compared to the peacock, after whom the company has taken their name. The sophisticated 1920s typography adds the final touch to this elegant image. No information is known about the artist.
