Jean Dominique Van Caulaert (1897 - 1979)

Broadway (?), 1952, oil on Masonite, signed and dated lower left, 15 x 18 inches, inscription verso may say "Broadway", presented in its original frame

$2,750

Jean Dominique van Caulaert was born in France and initially rose to prominence as a poster designer and painter of the Art Deco period. He created his first poster designs in Belgium 1916. In the early 1920s, he illustrated covers of sheet music for a Belgian publisher. By the 1930s, Caulaert designed posters for Mistinguett, Marie Dubas, Josephine Baker, Cecile Sorel, Suzy Solidor, and Lys Gauty. He also painted Edith Piaf, Tino Rossi, Mistinguett, Rena Kaetty, Nita Rahia, Marelen Dietrich and other leading Parisian entertainers and personalities. In 1933, one of his murals in a Montmarte night club became the subject of a lawsuit by the actress Gaby Morlay who demanded the destruction of her semi-nude image in the work.

After working for several decades depicting the stars of Paris and its nightlife, Caulaert moved to the United States in 1951, mainly living in New York City, where he typically worked eight months per year. For the remaining four months per year, Caulaert lived and worked in Paris. He continued this pattern until is death in 1979 at the Villa des Arts in Montmartre. While in New York, Caulaert completed decorative figural works, portraits and urban landscapes depicting the bustle of post-war New York, such as the present work.