“Trait d’esprit”

Watercolour and gouache on card, signed upper left, inscribed lower margin “On donne de l’argent à une pouIe pour qu’elle se déshabille et à sa femme pour qu’elle s’habille” (We give money to the ‘chick’ (poule) so that she undresses, and to the wife so that she dresses”.

A stunning and humorous original art deco watercolour with a naked young girl extending her hand towards her lover, describing the nature of male pursuit of women.

French painter, illustrator and advertiser Fernand Couderc exhibited at the Salon des Humoristes in 1929, of which he was a member. He collaborated on many humorous and risqué newspapers including Pages Folles, Le Sourire, Paris-Plaisirs, Froufrou, Gens qui Rient, etc. (BENEZIT, Edouard-Joseph “Dictionnaire Biographique des Artistes Contemporains”)