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A student of Boisselier, Edouard de Beaumont first exhibited his paintings
at the Paris Salon of 1838. Concentrating first upon landscape paintings de
Beaumont later turned to genre paintings and continued to exhibit his art
through France well into the later decades of the nineteenth century.
Lithography was no less important to de Beaumont than his career as a
painter. He illustrated such classic books as Notre-Dame de Paris
(1844) and Le Diable Amoureux (1854) with his lithographs as well as
being a constant contributor to Paris periodicals and journals such as Le
Charivari. His lithographic art was in great demand during the 1840’s
and in particular his humorous representations of fashions and habits. In
this regard he began to rival his famous contemporary, Gavarni. In fact, de
Beaumont was often called, “le Gavarni du Pauvre”.
This original lithograph is typical of de Beaumont’s great art. Monsieur
le Comte de Filouski ... was the first of a series of lithographs the
artist created under the title of Les Grecs de Paris. At that time
the term ‘Grec’ (Greek) referred to the rather foppish and fashionably
dressed dandies who inhabited the many haunts of upper crust Paris. The
affectatious Count Filouski clearly fits this category.
The Golden Age of French satirical art is generally held to be the era from
1830 to 1850. Founded by the great writer and editor, Charles Philipon
(1804-1862), Le Charivari commenced its daily publication in 1832. By
means of both its art and commentaries this journal led the attack upon
France’s political leaders, royalty, priesthood, and any other possibly
corrupt individuals. Artists Philipon commissioned for satirical lithographs
included such masters as Daumier, Gavarni and Travies. Many more great
artists, however, contributed original lithographs to the publication which
today comprise a wonderful resource of French life and humour from this long
past age.
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