| The cafés of Paris have long been a favorite subject of LeRoy Neiman and his many collectors. In his book, An American in Paris, Neiman points out that the Parisian café first emerged in the mid-18th century, quickly becoming both social gathering place and discrete meeting place for agitators in advance of the French Revolution. Cafés were also a common location for displaying the first real posters, which were used for notices and proclamations by the church and crown. After the Revolution, cafés multiplied when chefs and stewards, now freed from the king's and aristocrats' kitchens, opened their own establishments. Finally, in the 1850s, with the laying out of grand boulevards such as the Champs-Elysées and Boulevard Saint-Germain, the cafés pushed out onto the new spacious sidewalks, and the Parisian sidewalk café was perfected!
The featured serigraph portrays one of Neiman's favorite cafés, Chez Francis, located at the Place de l'Alma, starting point of the magnificent avenues George-V and Montaigne. The artist gives us a warm springtime elegant eating and drinking scene. Diligent waiters in black attend patrons intent on their conversations. New-leafed trees adorn the broad sidewalks. In the distance, the Eiffel Tower rises through a rich blue sky. And in the center, still bringing Parisians the news, is a kiosk with a poster announcing one of Paris's many cultural events, an exhibition of the work of the great early 20th century artist Fernand Le`ger.
Neiman calls the Parisian café a fixture for a graceful society. "Chez Francis" is a graceful companion to such beloved Neiman works as "Fouquets", "Cafe Deux Magots" and "Cafe de la Paix". It will be cherished by Neiman collectors around the world. |
