This is an intriguing topical French magazine illustration depicting a decadent French woman enjoying five different forms of illumination as she goes through various stages of undress. Providing commentary on the onset of modernity in fin-de-siècle France through the metaphor of sn illustrated mistress of the house who is seen with a broadening smile and increasingly confident demeanor as she lives with the at the time shockingly new conveniences. A bold and striking illustration by the controversial French cartoonist Gil Baer. This pen & ink with watercolor highlights cartoon comes nicely matted in vintage limed wood frame.

A biography of Gil Baer (1859-1931)

Baer was a French artist and illustrator known for his corrosive caracatures and anti-establishment humorous drawings born in Strasbourg and working most of his career in Paris.

Beginning towards the end of the 19th century, Gil Baer exhibited regularly at the Salon des Artistes Indépendants and other major Parisian salons between 1900 and 1929. He was a co-founder in 1925 of the Union Artistique des illustrateurs français.

Cited in the Bénézit, international dictionary of artists, Gil-Baer is also listed in Les Petits Maitres de la Peinture by Gérald Schurr, the Dictionnaire des Illustrateurs, as well as the Dico Solo dictionary.