Louis Icart, Drawing Representing Two Young Elegant Women, Early 20th Century

Drawing on brown card stock done in charcoal and enhanced with pastel, depicting a pair of young women dressed in 18th-century ball gowns. One of them carries a basket from which flowers escape while the other delicately lifts the sides of her dress. A coat of arms, depicting a castle with a tower, is visible at the top right.

Signed “Louis Icart” at the bottom left. Louis Icart (1888-1950) was a painter, engraver and illustrator from Toulouse.

In Paris, he was introduced to the fashion world by his aunt, a prominent milliner of the Belle Époque and owner of Maison Valmont, and became an illustrator for the catalogs of haute couture houses. He also participated in the Salon des Humoristes, where he presented portraits of elegant and slightly provocative Parisian women, which would become his specialty. After the First World War, during which he was a fighter pilot, he gained popularity in Europe and the United States thanks to his works combining the modernity of Art Deco and Rococo influences drawn from the repertoire of Fragonard, Watteau and Boucher. From the 1940s, he gradually fell into oblivion and his work would not be rediscovered until about thirty years later.

Some stains on the mat.
Slight damage to the frame.
Good general condition.
From the early 20th century.

Dimensions:
Framed: 62 x 48 cm
On view: 43 x 31 cm