Weiluc (LUCIEN HENRI WEIL, 1873-1947). LE FROU FROU. 1900. 60x43 inches, 154x111 cm. La Lithographie Nouvelle, Asnieres.

Lot description

WEILUC (LUCIEN HENRI WEIL, 1873-1947) LE FROU FROU. 1900. 60 3/4x43 3/4 inches, 154 1/4x111 cm. La Lithographie Nouvelle, Asnieres. Condition B: restored losses, repaired tears and creases in margins and image and along vertical and horizontal folds. Le Frou Frou was a naughty humor magazine launched in 1900. From its inception, its aim was to titillate. The first poster they issued was designed by Cappiello, who presented a flirtatious can-can girl. Immediately afterwards, Weiluc was commissioned to create a new one and the result is a masterpiece of soft, turn-of-the-century eroticism in which a young woman, perhaps a dancing girl, is sitting on a sofa, with her legs protruding from her very visible petticoat. The contrast between the white linen of her undergarments and the black of her stockings and garters arrests the eye. More startling than her pose is the fact that she is smoking - an incredibly provocative act for a woman at that time. Weiluc transforms the smoke from that brazen cigarette into the title of the poster. Added to the carefree pose and the bravado of the smoke is the woman''s languorous gaze, all of which combine to create an exquisitely shocking (and arousing) poster for the period. Weiluc, who was a regular exhibitor at the Salon des Humoristes, and who became President of the Society of Humoristes in 1911, is well-regarded for his far less daring portraits of Parisian characters. This is the version before text in the bottom panel. From the Hans Sachs Collection, with the collector''s stamp on verso. DFP-II 874, Wine Spectator, pl. 64, Belle Epoque 164, Maitres 1900 p. 61 (var), Art Nouveau p. 130 (var), Cappiello / Rennert 1B.