Jacques Wely (1873-1910) - Duties, Circa 1900

Jacques Wely (1873-1910)
LES DEVOIRS,CIRCA 1900
Oil on canvas
50 x 61 cm (64 x 75 cm with the frame)
Signed lower right

Additional photos on request

After having attempted a commercial career in China, he signed his first drawings "Made" in Paris in 1896 then met Edmond Vernier who signed "Dola": the duo then produced illustrations under the name "Madola" intended for operetta booklets, which they initially produced in their lithographic workshop. Between 1897 and 1904, under the sole pen name "Jacques Wély", he produced a number of music score covers, among others for the Parisian publisher Enoch.Around the same time, he delivered an increasing number of caricatures to most satirical and light newspapers. He also engaged in the production of paintings, for example offering 12 canvases at the Salon des humoristes in 1909. A member of the Société nationale des beaux-arts, his gouaches show humorous or tender scenes of couples, portraits of women, and some still lifes, which sometimes fall within the tradition of post-impressionism. In 1908, he opened a new studio in Montfort-l'Amaury, but, suffering from tuberculosis, he died two years later. An illustrator for the publishing and press houses Rouff, Albin Michel, Jules Tallandier, and Pierre Lafitte, he became a key caricaturist for their periodicals.