43. Henri-Gabriel Ibels
(1867-1930)
L’Amour S’Amuse (playbill)

(click on image to print)
Ibels: L’Amour S’Amuse

L’Amour S’Amuse (playbill)

Color lithograph, ca. 1895, 275 x 190 mm., Bibliothèque National Inventaire 14bis. Bright, fresh impression on the front of a folded sheet of paper originally meant as a wrapper to enclose four less interesting black-and-white lithographs of the play. L’Amour S’Amuse was a short play in verse whose major claims to fame are that it starred Mévisto (1859-1927), one of the great theatrical figures of his day, who later acted in films, and that it provoked this stunning print. The play, by Etienne Decrept, also featured Camille Stéfani opposite Mévisto. Both were the idolized subjects of other prints in that era.