Jan 30, 2003 - Sale 1958

Sale 1958 - Lot 244

Price Realized: $ 4,370
?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 3,000 - $ 4,000
RENE GAILLARD COCAINE
61x45 1/4 inches.
Condition A. Framed.
A sallow-eyed woman in a red dress is swaying to the music of a red-lipped jazz band, while a gleeful green monster (the spectre of cocaine) watches over the hill of Montmartre, a moulin rougue at his elbow; against a gray background. Although little is known about this play, from the image, it was seemingly a warning along the lines of America's Reefer Madness, not a glorification of the drug, which was legal in Paris through the 1920s. The clear resemblance of the characters to Edith Piaf, Harpo Marx and Al Jolson further suggest that this morality tale was celebrity based. One can only wait for a modern revival . . .