?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 3,000 - $ 4,000
VICTOR LEYDET (1861-1904) ABSINTHE SUPERIEURE / GEMPP PERNOD. 1912. 57 1/2x58 inches. Elie Cohen, Marseille. Condition A-: Minor restoration along vertical and horizontal folds; repaired tears at edges. Two sheets. Absinthe can trace its origins back to the end of the 18th century, when the green liqueur was distilled in the Jura Mountains. By the 1820s Henri Louis Pernod had begun mass-producing the drink, and it went on to become the most popular aperitif in France and was consumed all over the world. Using the family name, Pernod's descendants founded distilleries in various parts of France. In 1880, Edouard, Henri, 's grandson, sold his branch in Lunel, in the south of France, to Charles Gempp. The new owner used both names, and (in 1901) commissioned Leonetto Cappiello to design a poster for the company. He also commissioned this image from a local artist. It originally appeared as a magazine ad, but was finally issued as a poster in 1912 (eight years after the artist died). From the "graffiti" on the chair to the smoke in the air (spelling out "it's my health"), the light-hearted image presents a sophisticated message in a deceptively simple manner. By 1917 absinthe was finally banned in France, due to the horrific side effects it caused. L'Absinthe p. 82-3.
