Leonetto CAPPIELLO (1875-1942) - Lot 1

Leonetto CAPPIELLO (1875-1942) Champagne, 1902 Mixed media. Mounted on canvas. Signed lower right. (Small holes, notably in the dress. Tears on the edges. Rubbing). 145 x 113 cm Bibliography : Rennert, p. 58, no. 33. In 1900, Cappiello decided to embark on a career as a poster artist and signed a contract with the advertising publisher Vercasson. He invented a female character that contrasted with the "Chérette" of the undisputed master of the genre, Jules Chéret; the latter, in just three colors, using only modeling, still dominates the walls. In contrast, the dashing model he chooses for himself is sharply outlined, the colors are vivid, but above all, unlike the mostly static Chérette, she is in motion - Cappiello marks his difference from the outset. Unlike Chéret, who let customers come to him, Vercasson had to go and find them... In 1902, Cappiello produced two cheerfully spirited designs: one, originally intended for a "Peruvian elixir"(1) in reds and greens, was eventually sold to Champagne Damery; ours, whose model does not yet bear the name of a customer, to Champagne Delbeck. Everything in this image invites celebration: the popping cork, the flowing foam, the young woman smiling at having tamed the bottle, right down to her twirling belt. (1) See the model reproduced under number 159 in Posters at the Belle Époque, Jack Rennert, The Wine Spectator Press, 1990.