Illustration for an unknown publication. Pen and ink on stiff paper. 270x190 mm; 10 1/2x7 1/2 inches, image, on 20x15-inch sheet. Signed " S. Vidsbergs - 1963" in ink, lower right image.
Latvian artist Sigismunds Vidbergs was encouraged early on by his teachers to pursue art, leading him to study at the Saint Petersburg Art and Industry Academy. With specialities in stained and painted glass, as well as graphic design, he taught art through World War I, and later returned to Latvia where he exhibited his own artwork. Influenced by artists such as Beardsley and Vallotton, Vidbergs' costume designs and erotic illustrations in particular, evoke the graceful, curvilinear details of Beardsley and the boldness of Vallotton's prints. This fasionable, whimsical poster displays Vidbergs' indelible sense of graphic patterns, negative space, and composition.
