Parisienne No. 102 (Les Feuilles d'Automne, La Vie Parisienne)

Bouby Passy

This drawing, "Parisienne No. 102" was done for the French magazine La Vie Parisienne, in 1917. The signature "Bouvy Passy" was likely a pseudonym since there is no information available on a single artist of that name. Interestingly, the image in the magazine included an alternate title, "Poeme sans paroles" ("poem without words") and a further inscription reading "Dessin de Bouby-Passy. Envoye d'un camp d'internes en Holland" ("Drawing by Bouby-Passy. Sent from an internment camp in Holland").

La Vie Parisienne was a popular French weekly magazine founded in 1863. It was originally intended as a guide to upper class fashion and artistic life in Paris, but by the turn of the century it had evolved into a mildly risqué erotic publication.

The artwork of La Vie Parisienne reflected the stylization of Art Nouveau and Art Deco illustration, mirroring the aesthetic of the age as well as the values, and this coupled with the intellectualism, wit and satire of its written contributions was a combination that proved irresistible to the French public.