Jazz Age-Era Sketchbook of the French Riviera, with 30+ Original Drawings & Watercolors, Depicting Scenes from Cannes, Antibes, & Monte Carlo!

An unsigned sketchbook containing 31 original drawings in watercolor, pencil, pen, and charcoal completed during a trip along the French Riviera, ca. December 1921-March 1922. The oblong hardcover sketchbook purchased from Charles Scribner's Sons has the original wine-red leather boards and gilt-edged textblock. The pastedown endpaper and loose endpaper is of lovely dark green silk damask. The intersection of the front cover and spine has been repaired with black tape. Expected wear to the pages inside, including light toning, minor edge darkening, thumbprints, etc. Else near fine. The majority of the sketches are entitled and half are dated. Each page measures 5" x 4.125." The sketchbook overall measures 4.375" x 5.375" x 1."

The first sketch in the sketchbook is dated December 6, 1921, and the last dated sketch was done on March 8, 1922. The sketchbook thus dates from the Jazz Age, or, the period immediately following World War I. Members of the Lost Generation, isolated and jaded by the senselessness of war, flung themselves headlong into the abandon of "Les Années Folles" [trans: "The Crazy Years"]. F. Scott Fitzgerald and other exuberant foreign nationals soon made the French Riviera the hub of Jazz Age culture, where revolutionary and transgressive lifestyles were not only accepted but cultivated.

In the early 1920s, the Côte d'Azur was still an affordable place to live and was not yet frequented by tourists; indeed, Fitzgerald moved there after 1924 seeking privacy and savings on living expenses. The word was soon out, however. The French Riviera became, in Fitzgerald's words, "a playground for the world," attracting émigrés and expatriates, artists and writers, composers, dancers, and musicians. F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, Pablo Picasso, Cole Porter, Isadora Duncan, Jean Cocteau, Man Ray, Igor Stravinsky, Josephine Baker and American socialites Gerald and Sara Murphy (the basis for Fitzgerald's characters the Divers in "Tender is the Night") flocked to the South of France.

Our sketchbook captures scenes from this captivating era, and there is even overlap between known Fitzgerald stomping grounds--Antibes, Saint Raphaël, and Monte Carlo--and the locales depicted in the sketchbook. Using the sketches as a guide, we know that the artist traveled along the Côte d'Azur as far east as Monaco and deep into Provence. West to east, he toured Aigues-Mortes, Nîmes, Arles, Tarascon, Avignon, Saint Raphaël, Cannes, Iles de Lérin, Antibes, Cap Martin, and Monte Carlo.

Who was the artist of our sketchbook? Since it is unsigned, we don't know, but several circumstantial clues suggest that the artist was a young English-speaking male. The first drawing depicts lifeboats aboard the "R.M.S. Adriatic," suggesting that he was a tourist. The French language titles and captions appearing throughout the sketchbook are very good, but certain spelling errors suggest he was not a native Francophone. Last, the sketch entitled "Souvenir d'Avignon" depicts two adolescents sick in bed; the portrait of the male is probably a self-portrait of the artist, who also sketched ice hockey players at the end of the sketchbook.

There are nine watercolor and pencil drawings; twenty pencil drawings; one pen drawing; and one charcoal drawing contained in the sketchbook. Individual photographs are available upon request. The drawings include, in order of appearance:

1. December 6, 1921, no title. Pencil drawing of lifeboats aboard the "R.M.S. Adriatic," a White Star Line passenger ship in service between 1907-1935. The two-funnel vessel weighing more than 20,000 tons had served as a transport ship during World War I. It regularly plied the Atlantic Ocean.

2. February 6, 1922, "Cannes." Watercolor and pencil drawing depicting a view of the harbor.

3. February 9, 1922, "On the Croisette." Pencil drawing of a French curate standing on the Promenade de la Croisette, a 2 km road hugging the coastline of Cannes.

4. February 12, 1922, "Cannes, Ancienne Ville" [trans: Cannes, Old City"]. 2pp panoramic pencil drawing of the city and harbor including the surrounding mountains.

5. February 14, 1922, "At the Californie." Watercolor and pencil drawn caricatures of seven guests at the Hôtel de Californie in Cannes. The portraits represent "types" one could encounter in such posh establishments. These include (translated): "The Senator," "His Wife," "Milor" (a stereotypical British aristocrat), "The Siren," (a femme fatale), "Kid Dressed in the English Style," "The Player," "The Hunter," and "Purebred Dogs."

6. N.d., "Holme Hall." Pencil drawing of the courtyard of a manor house probably located in England.

7. February 15, 1922, "Place de l'Hotel de Ville, Cannes" [trans: "Town Hall Square, Cannes"]. Watercolor and pencil drawing of the city center, including the clock tower of Notre Dame de l'Espérance dominating the background.

8. February 17, 1922, "Hotel Beau-Sejour, St. Raphael Var." Watercolor and pencil drawing of a sailboat at sea viewed from a terrace.

9. February 20, [1922], "Vue de L'Isle St. Honorat" [trans: "View from the Island of St. Honorat."] Watercolor and pencil drawing. The Ile de Saint Honorat is one of two islands composing the Iles de Lérin located in the Mediterranean Sea approximately 6.5 km southeast of Cannes.

10. February 22, 1922, "Bateau de Pêcheur" [trans: "Fisherman's boat."] Watercolor and pencil drawing of a fishing boat.

11. N.d., "No. 231 Hotel Californie." Watercolor and pencil drawing of the artist's room, including a view of the balcony shaded by a red and white striped awning.

12. February 22, 1922, "Cloisters: Monastery on Isle St. Honorat." Watercolor and pencil drawing of an arcaded cloister with Corinthian columns. A Cistercian monastery still exists on the Ile Saint Honorat today; the cloisters depicted here were built in the 14th and 15th centuries.

13. February 15, 1922, "Antibes, Vielle Ville" [trans: "Antibes, Old City"]. Watercolor and pencil drawing of the seaside town including the towers of Château Grimaldi, a late 14th century castle, now the Picasso Museum.

14. February 19, 1922, "Fête de Nuit" [trans: "Night Party"]. Pencil drawing of costumed revelers dancing under Japanese lanterns.

15. March 1, 1922, "La Tête de Chien, from Cap Martin, Les Rochers" [trans: "Dog Head, from Cape Martin, The Rocks"]. Pencil drawing of Dog Head, a 550 meter high promontory overlooking Monaco. Cape Martin is located between Menton, France and Monaco.

16. March 5, [1922], "Monté-Carlo from Hotel Bristol." Pencil drawing of Monte Carlo crowned by the celebrated casino at top.

17. March 8, 1922, "Gorge du Loup" [trans: "Wolf Gorge"]. Pencil drawing of treacherous cliffs near the Loup River, an area known for its spectacular waterfalls and swimming holes.

18. N.d., "Souvenir d'Avignon" [trans: "Memory of Avignon"]. Pencil drawing depicting two young people, perhaps siblings, sick in bed.

19. N.d., "Arles, St. Trophime at l'Obélisque" [trans: "Arles, St. Trophime and the Obelisk"]. Pencil drawing of the Romanesque Cathedral of St. Trophime, and the 4th century Roman obelisk placed atop a fountain base during the 17th century.

20. N.d., "Arles, Théatre Romain" [trans: "Arles, Roman Theater"]. Pencil drawing of 1st century Roman ruins.

21. N.d., "Aigues-Mortes et Revenants" [trans: "Aigues-Mortes (a city in southwestern France) and Ghosts"]. Pencil drawing depicting people in Renaissance costume loitering in front of medieval city walls.

22. N.d., "Eglise de Ste. Marthe, Tarascon" [trans: "Church of St. Martha, Tarascon"]. Pencil drawing of the southern portal of the Romanesque and Gothic cathedral.

23. N.d., "Maison Carrée, Nimes" [trans: "Square House, Nîmes"]. Pencil drawing depicting the Roman temple dedicated to Emperor Augustus's grandsons.

24. N.d., "Nimes, Reflections." Pencil drawing depicting a bridge, possibly in the city's eighteen-century public gardens, Les Jardins de la Fontaine.

25. N.d., no title. Pen drawing depicting the rear of the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris.

26. February 20, 1922, "Aux Isles de Lérins" [trans: "On the Lérin Islands"]. Pencil drawing of trees.

There are five additional sketches, at various stages of completion, located towards the end of the sketchbook.

A lovely relic of Fitzgerald's France!

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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