Georges Villa 1883-1965. - Lot 94

Georges Villa 1883-1965. Poster for the French Aeronautical Propaganda Committee. Signed lower left. Dated 1928. H_ 80 L_ 60 cm. Georges Émile Marie Villa, born in Montmédy (Meuse) on January 24, 1883 and died in Paris on November 19, 1965, was a French cartoonist, caricaturist, engraver, lithographer and illustrator. He designed numerous menu illustrations and advertising posters (notably for Cadum soap and Balnéa clothing), as well as posters for shows (notably the music hall). He also illustrated books such as Anatole France's L'Île des Pingouins in 1922, Théophile Gautier's Le Capitaine Fracasse in 1935, Edgar Allan Poe's Contes fantastiques in 1938, and Pierre Louÿs' Aphrodite. Finally, he used his talents to promote aviation: Georges Villa designed propaganda posters for the French Air Ministry, notably for the 1931 Colonial Exhibition. He was named one of the first Air Force painters in 1931. At the same time, he produced thousands of erotic drawings, in the tradition of 18th-century Romanticism. Georges Villa was an important figure in the Montmartre of the Roaring Twenties, known for his caricatures and portraits, as well as for his erotic drawings, whose realism was reinforced by the use of charcoal and pastel. The Musée de Montmartre conserves one of his pastels, À l'intérieur du Lapin Agile. He was a member of the Cercle des Mortigny, founded by Dimitri d'Osnobichine in 1908, which brought together numerous artists and regulars of Parisian life, and which continued to function until the 1950s.