Louis Icart (1888-1950) “the Cherry Picking”

Beautiful original print by Louis ICART. "The Cherry Picking" 1920-1930. Drypoint and aquatin in colors signed L.Icart. Numbered 138/310. Etching and aquatin lithograph. Diameter approximately 51 cm. This is not a modern reproduction. About Louis Icart: Louis Justin Laurent Icart, born in 1888 in Toulouse and died in 1950 in Paris, is a French painter, engraver and illustrator. Impressed by his drawing skills, his aunt brought him to Paris: she owned the Maison Valmont, a prominent milliner of the Belle Époque. Louis Icart was then introduced to the world of illustration for the fashion press. He drew for the periodical La Critique théâtrale and for the catalogs of haute couture houses. Trained in engraving, he presented his original works at the Salon des humoristes: his portraits of women, of Parisian women, began to seduce the public; he was compared to Paul-César Helleu and Manuel Robbe[ref. necessary]. During the First World War, he was an airplane pilot, went on several air missions but did not stop drawing. In 1920, he exhibited at the Simonson gallery in Paris, then, in 1922, in New York, at the Belmaison gallery, more than thirty canvases expressing an Art Deco style. Following this exhibition, his engravings enjoyed a certain success in America until 1932. His work includes more than five hundred engravings. He also participated in the illustration of around thirty works, including a good number of erotic ones. During the Occupation, he composed an engraved series entitled L'Exode. His work fell into oblivion after the war, but aroused interest again when, in the 1970s, some of his early paintings were found in the attic of an art school.