Georges MÉLIÈS (Paris, 1861-1938). The Sand... Lot 19

Georges MÉLIÈS (Paris, 1861-1938). The Sand Contest. Cartoon in ink heightened with colored pencil, inscribed upper left "Here is, gentlemen, a masterpiece that undoubtedly deserves !!! The first prize!!!", dated August 1907 in the upper right corner and monogrammed in the lower right corner (pin holes, stains, small paper losses). Framed by "P. LIONIS" in Le Havre. Height : 22 cm. 22 cm - Width : 35 cm A pioneer in the use of effects and tricks in cinema, Georges Méliès pursued his first vocation throughout his career, drawing (and more particularly caricature). Forbidden by his father to study Fine Arts, he joined Gustave Moreau's studio and published satirical drawings in the newspaper La Griffe. His caricature work was all the more important and recognised as he devoted one of his first films to it, the "Dessinateur express" in 1896. Probably made around 1907 in Mers-Les-Bains, such a set is particularly rare on the market because of its coherence and the testimony of the drawing talent of the "enchanter of reality". The French film library has nearly seventy of his caricatures.