VERTÈS Marcel

Marcel VERTÈS (1895-1961) was a French painter and engraver of Hungarian origin, born in Ujpest on 10 August 1895 and died in Paris on 31 October 1961. After being a student of Ferenczy in Fine Arts Budapest, he made political posters during the First World War. Exile at the end of the hostilities, he studied at the Julian Academy in Paris. He became known in France in the mid-1920s, especially for his lithographs and illustrations. It was thanks to a lithograph album entitled Dancings that he truly gained fame. His works include Chéri de Colette, L'Europe Galante by Paul Morand and Le Cirque by Ramon Gomez by La Serna. In the early 1950s Vertès enjoyed a prominent reputation in artistic circles, justified by a talent often described as exceptional. His drawings are characterized by a great economy of features and colours. The artist, a gravity, watercolourist and costume designer, also illustrated the advertising campaigns for Schiaparelli perfumes. But after his death, he experienced a sort of "purgatory" for four decades, which increased his relatively low profile among a wide audience.