Leonetto Cappiello had a sense of showmanship and literally showed his subjects. The mockups for his advertising and art posters conserved at the Musée d’Orsay are in pastels. Making use of this vibrant medium and with remarkable visual restraint, the artist created sinuous, slender dancing figures with rippling hair, sporting fashion accessories with undulating feathers. In these simple sketches, whether caricature or portrait, a whole world of creation takes shape. Women of fashion, playwrights, composers, actors declaiming, musicians rehearsing, audiences and celebrities put on a real show for us.

Curatorship Géraldine Masson, Scientific Advisor – Graphic Arts