LOUIS ICART
French School
1890-1950

Étude

Oil on canvas, signed, inscribed and numbered X11 – 54 on reverse

22 x 27 cms
13 5/8 x 10 5/8 ins

Louis Icart was a renowned artist and print maker who became almost synonymous with the Art Deco movement of the 1920s. He achieved great success and wealth commensurate with that success and remains popular to this day, particularly in New York where his work achieves high prices in auction.

He was born in Toulouse in 1890 and showed a marked aptitude for drawing from an early age. However, he entered l’École Supérieure de Commerce de Toulonne to read business studies in order to follow in his father’s profession of banking. He became beguiled by the romance and wonder of the theatre and literature though, and in particular the work of Victor Hugo, and this prompted a complete change in his approach to life and career path.

In 1907 he moved to Paris and immediately achieved success with his drawings and drypoint etchings and aquatints working for various publications such as Luxe de Paris and also for fashion and design studios, as well as illustrating major literary works such as Faust by Goethe and L’Ingénue Libertine by Colette.

His early career was interrupted by the First World War and he took part in the conflict, and, through his drawing, recorded at first hand all the facets and experiences of a combatant. These works were turned into prints at the cessation of hostilities and proved to be so popular that they were published in two editions, one for the European market and the other for the American.

It was following the Exposition des Arts Decoratifs in Paris in 1925 that his career really took off. This exhibition marked the end of Victoriana and ushered in the cleaner lines and the appreciation of opulence and high craftsmanship which became known as the Art Deco movement. This was also reflected in the fashion world and Icart’s depiction of beautiful, languid women in close fitting dresses found an appreciative audience although it is somewhat ironic that his work was redolent of the major French eighteenth century paintings of Fragonard, Boucher and Watteau.

His wife Fanny Volmers, a vivacious blond, whom he had met when she was a young assistant at the Paquin fashion house in 1914, was often a model and inspiration for his paintings and prints. The women in his prints and paintings are always sensuous and some are erotic and were produced to satisfy that market. Titles include: “Symphony in Blue”, “Summer Dreams”, “Joy of Life”, “Venus in the Waves” “ Le Baiser de Pierrot” and “Lavender Lady” among many more.

He lived in New York in the late 1920s and enjoyed enormous success there and the Louis Icart Society based in that city produced a book as a guide to gallery owners as how best to market his prints.