Artist: J. L. Forain French (1852-1931)
Title: Salon du Cycle
Plate: PL. 51
Original lithograph from "Les Maitres de L'Affiche" series.
Printed by Imprimerie Chaix, Paris, 1897.
Reference: DFP-II, 362; Maindron 1896, p. 64; Maitres, 51; Bicycle Posters, 20; Wagner, 55; Abdy, p. 106; Weill/Art Nouveau, p. 67; PAI-LXV, 3
Presented in 16 x 20 in. acid free, archival museum mat, with framing labels. Ready to frame. Shipped boxed flat.
Certificate of Authenticity.
Maitre Sheet Size: approx 11 3/8 in x 15 3/4 in 29 cm x 40 cm
Price: $225.00
Full size sold for $ 3,000 US Poster Auctions International, NY. May 2001.
"In advertising the second annual Salon du Cycle, Forain created an image which would cause Maindron to later exclaim, “This poster is perfect.” Delicate in sweet pastel shades." (Rennert)
"This poster announces the second bicycle show, to be held in October 1894, at the Palace of Industry in Paris. These exhibitions of bicycles and bicycle parts were an important element in the marketing of bicycles as well as a major social event. All of the manufacturers showed their latest models, as did the prospective customers…Forain is best known for his book designs and numerous illustrations for leading periodicals such as Le Rire…He produced few posters but this one is widely, and correctly, regarded as his finest." (Bicycle, 20)
This engaging design depicting two charming cyclists in the most delicate of pastels-yellow pink and light olive. This was a favorite of turn-of-the-century poster collectors; Maindron, a year after its publication, was unequivocal: "This poster is perfect." (Rennert PAI-XL, 28)
Forain was a prolific painter and lithographer, but is best known for his book designs and numerous illustrations for leading periodicals such as Le Rire…He produced only few posters"(Bicycle, 20)
Lautrec and Forain, by Ricardo Opisso (Spanish 1880-1966)
Jean-Louis Forain specialized in painting, print making, and illustration. Trained at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, he showed with the Impressionists and worked as a caricaturist for a number of French illustrated newspapers. During the First World War, he served in the Section de Camouflage and as a war correspondent. A number of the caricatures he published with the popular press became posters and postcards. Forain was a harsh critic of his own paintings, a complicated medium he professed that was difficult to determine if and when it was finished. Nonetheless his work influenced the style of a younger generation of more socially conscious artists including Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec.