Louis Justin Laurent Icart

LOUIS JUSTIN LAURENT ICART (Toulouse, 1888- Paris, 1950)
"Laughing Young Woman", 1930
Framed lithograph
Signed and dated
Measurements: 58 x 67'5 cm.

This work shows us one of the most recurrent themes in Icart's work: the female nude. The young woman, smiling, seems to slide on a soft cushion while looking at the viewer, shamelessly, marking a diagonal with her body. The soft pastel colors help to create an intimate atmosphere that, together with the author's agility in the use of copperplate printing techniques, make us escape into an almost dreamlike atmosphere.

Louis Justin Laurent Icart began painting in Paris at a very early age. At first he made postcards based on original designs, but gradually he began to make his own. He illustrated some magazine covers of the time, which earned him the confidence of the general public.

In 1913 he exhibited his drawings at the "Salon des Humoristes", which marked a turning point in his career, because from that moment on he began to learn copper engraving, a technique he would develop throughout his career.