Charles (Chas) Laborde Argentina / France (1886-1941) Grands Boulevards, 1937 etching Signed in plate near lower center edge. Commissioned for the universal exhibition in Paris in 1937. Crisp impression. In passepartout. Biography from Papillon Gallery: Charles Laborde was born in1886 in Buenos Aires, Argentina of French parents. He called himself Chas-Laborde. He was a pupil in Paris of Henri Royer and Marcel Baschet at l'Acad?mie Julian in Paris, and of William Bouguereau and Luc-Olivier Merson at l'?cole des Beaux-Arts. Laborde was one of the most well known illustrators in France in the 1920's and 1930's. His works are often compared to those of George Grosz. Both humorous and satirical, they were often directed at the French upper classes. His illustrations of street life in Paris convey the atmosphere of this city of diversity. Laborde illustrated many novelettes, magazines, and books. In the 1930's, Laborde traveled to New York, London, Moscow, and Berlin. He did a series of watercolors of scenes he witnessed in each city, including Paris, and later published limited edition portfolios of lithographs of these images. Laborde was also a modernist fine art painter, whose subjects included nudes, portraits, and street scenes. These works are reminiscent of his contemporaries Matisse, Kisling and his friend Jules Pascin. Laborde exhibited at the Salon de Tuileries, and Galerie Chapentier. He died in Paris on December 30, 1941. In recent years many of Laborde's works have surfaced, it is believed his family had finally released many of these works, and what has emerged has enabled galleries and collectors to have a more complete understanding of the scope of his work. 12 3/4"H x 9 3/4"W (sight), 23 1/2"H x 19 1/2"W (mat)