Mon docteur le vin

DescriptionReproductions: 19 photolithographs of watercolors (18 in colors), plus 1 photolithograph of a drawing (wrappers). Text: letterpress and photolithography in colors. Paper: white wove.

Label TextA sure sign of one’s modernity was an appreciation for modern art. In this illustration for Gaston Derys’s charming ode to the health benefits of wine, Raoul Dufy depicts a sophisticated, well-dressed couple strolling through an art gallery featuring paintings by such modern luminaries as Modigliani, Braque, and Matisse. The chapter, titled “Downfall of a Lady Teetotaler,” argues that a person who does not drink wine with dinner is more susceptible to addiction to hard alcohol or drugs. The dialogue below the image wittily supports this claim as the couple discusses the woman in the portrait at upper left. “He has captured the fixed stare well; strange…” “You know that she has devoted herself to narcotics…” “What are you saying! She drinks nothing but water with her meals…” “Precisely!”Published Referencescf. The Frank Crowninshield Collection of Modern French Illustrated Books, New York: Parke-Bernet Galleries, 1943, no. 222.Exhibition HistoryToledo Museum of Art, Being Modern: Fashion, Art & Identity, Sept. 2 - Nov. 27 2005.