Jean-Adrien Mercier motoring watercolour,1929
Price Code: SOLD
Reference: 6269
Jean-Adrien Mercier (1899-1995)
A highly evocative original pen and watercolour depicting a woman in typical Art Deco attire in front of an automobile, created as an illustration for the book ‘L’Auto’ by Pierre Benoit in 1929.
Signed by the artist bottom left, the drawing is mounted with an acid-free mount, and framed in a plain black oak section frame and glazed.
Size: 15 x 13 inches (38 x 33 cm).
Illustrated: ‘The Auto’, by Pierre Benoit, 1929
‘L’Art et L’Automobile’ by Hervé Poulain, 1973
‘Art and the Automobile’ by D. B Tubbs, 1978
Exhibited: “Les objets culte du rêve automobile’, Paris, Louvre des Antiquaires, 1995
From 1925 until 1939, France experienced a a golden era of cinema and Mercier designed many of the movie posters of the period for some of the greatest directors of the era – Sacha Guitry, Alberto Cavalcanti, Marcel l’Herbier, and Jean Epstein, amongst others.
Post-war, Mercier started to move away from movie poster design, becoming more accomplished as a book illustrator, and became artistic director for Cointreau where he remained until 1965, all of his work bearing his distinctive signature.
All images and text copyright © Pullman Gallery Ltd. 2024
