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A framed etching by the acclaimed French artist, Louis Icart (1880 - 1950). The etching is entitled "Madame Bovary" and was printed in 1929. The piece is signed by the artist in pencil, lower right.

Louis Icart (1880 - 1950) was born in Toulouse, France. He began drawing at an early age. He was particularly interested in fashion, and became famous for his sketches almost immediately. He worked for major design studios at a time when fashion was undergoing a radical change, from the fussiness of the late nineteenth century to the simple, form fitting lines of the early twentieth century. Icart fought in World War I, where he relied on his art to stem his anguish, sketching on every available surface. When he returned from the front, he created prints from those drawings. The prints, most of which were aquatints and drypoints, showed great skill and attention to detail. Because they were much in demand, Icart frequently made two editions (one European, the other American) to satisfy his public. In each of his drawings, one sees the Impressionist style of Degas and Monet and, in his rare watercolors, the Symbolist style of Odilon Redon and Gustave Moreau. In fact, Icart lived outside the fashionable artistic movements of the time and was not completely sympathetic to contemporary art. Nonetheless, his Parisian scenes are a documentation of the life he saw around him and they are nearly as popular today as when they were first produced.