An Alligator About Town:
Etienne Aubert, born in Florida in 1868 to wealthy French immigrant parents, was expected to take over the family's textile business. However, he chose to pursue a passion for bohemian Paris instead.
At 26, he moved to a modest apartment near Paris. The Avenue des Champs- Élysées. Once there, he began surrounding himself with notables in the artistic community. He spent a lot of time and money entertaining. The generous income he received every month from his father was something that Aubert had no trouble parting with to host parties, frequent Parisian nightlife, and form fleeting friendships with all those who surrounded him. Notably, he developed a friendship with Toulouse Lautrec, the provocative French painter who immortalized, among other things, the famous cabaret music hall Folies Bergère.
Lautrec once referred to Aubert as a study in reptilian ambiguity. One never quite knew whether his enigmatic smile was because he was fond of you or that he was about to snap at you.'
Aubert's time in Paris was filled with various creative pursuits. At one point, he even tried his hand at composing an opera called 'Les Messieurs de Boheme,' but it turned out to be quite a challenge for him due to his limited knowledge of music. Despite his best efforts, he eventually gave up and switched to writing poetry instead.
Taking a riverboat down the Seine to Giverny, he was spellbound by the dawn mist surrounding the boat. Writing 'the swirls of air that dance and breathe without a care I cannot leave.' While there, he had the privilege of visiting Claude Monet at his home in Giverny. He spent two days with the legendary artist and even had dinner with Monet, Pissarro, and Renoir. He strolled through the picturesque gardens with Monet and his wife and stood alongside the master painter on the world-renowned Japanese bridge. It was an experience he would never forget.
Inspired by the company of such artistic talent, Aubert decided that he, too, would become a painter of impressionism and figurative surrealism. Only one painting of his remains, and predictably, it was unfinished.
This was the pattern of his life. A desire to be considered one of the greats of the artistic community, but a goal that remained elusive. The money that his parents sent to him every month eventually ended. However, his financial predicament never seemed to worry him; he often would squander large amounts on frivolous purchases and collections.
Despite little being known of his private life after age 32, one notable event was a small proclamation in the London Gazette in 1910. It announced his upcoming marriage to a wealthy widow, Spencer Margaret-Lewis. So, although he could never fulfill his artistic dreams, This secured him a comfortable final chapter of his life, allowing him to perform his duties as a loving husband and father to three young alligators.
Available as:
Paper Print Matte finish 10H" X 6.75W (signed) - $30.00
Paper Print Matte finish. 11" x 16" (signed) $49.00
ORIGINAL: Graphite and charcoal. Pencil art on paper. Image size: 10H" X 6.75W" (Framed size: 14" x 10.75" - $1100.00
Watermark will not be printed on image
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All reproduction prints are scanned and printed using gallery standard, professional equipment and materials. Ensuring the highest quality.
Some digital prints may have a slight enhancement from the original illustration, to increase tone and color balance.
Illustrated in the style of a vintage Edwardian or Victorian photograph. This image is part of my 'Anicurio' collection. Each original illustration is carefully hand-drawn in pencil. Once finished, I often hand-age them and treat them with various dye methods to resemble an old dusty antique photograph. I want this series to suggest something that was rediscovered by you. An inherited artifact from a mysterious benefactor? Or perhaps revealed in a long abandoned attic, lying at the bottom of a chest. Buried beneath old dusty clothes and fading handwritten notes.