Who's ready for more pleasing candy to the 'ol eye? To say that I wasn't prepared to stumble upon a nice big stack of Le Rire back issues (covers only actually) at a local antique mall last week would be a serious understatement. Le Rire, aka "The Laugh", was a weekly satirical magazine published in Paris from 1894 until 1971. As you skim through the covers below you'll notice that most, if not all, are likely from the later half of this publication's great, length run. With very attractive illustrative art, done in a variety of somewhat realistic but mostly cartoony styles, and executed by a variety of equally talented masters of the craft (fyi: every piece is signed!) And since it's December, we'll kick off this great girly gallery with a festive holiday chuckle, my own gift to everyone out there who continues to support and visit AEET on a regular basis. Enjoy!
Oh la la!
ReplyDeleteI know Le Rire was published in France, but the art on the covers would not have been out of place in the pages of Playboy magazine, risqué, naughty, but nice.
Thanks for the post.
I thought I'd translate a couple to see if I get the joke. For instance, in the one with the woman reading the book, it translates to "The first volume of Pascal's "Pensées" is not in its proper place..."
ReplyDeleteWhich is a philosophical book where Pascal's wager comes from and ....
I still don't get it! Is the gag he's ignoring the beautiful woman and instead obsessed with the classification of his books?
Well, whatever, great art, fun covers, fun styles. A great post, whether I get it or not!
All the cartooning is excellent, but I'm pretty impressed by the fine art sensibilities going on in some of these as well. Especially the first two at the top and the fourth one, which is probably my fave. I also love that the brutal ape lady in the last one, and even the depiction of that Picasso-esque painting on the cover of (the second) #30 (the lady looks like she's taking a pic of it with her smart phone).
ReplyDeleteSuper neat stuff. I hope you find a million more!