Before there was E! Online
Like Frederik Hendrik Kaemmerer’s “Une Ascension en l’An VIII” from the decade previous (seen in this post), Fernand le Quesne’s 1897 painting “Allegorie de la Publicite” shows a surprisingly modern humour, or perhaps I just give too little credit to the artistic wags of the 19th century, who after all had among them the razor wit of Daumier.
Le Quesne (1856-1956) has the allegorical Advertising in Place de la Concorde, flogging every imaginable shop and attraction, from the Louvre to the department store Bon Marché, as well as “Pygmalion” at the theatre.
The competition for the consumer’s attention is fierce, with human billboards waddling about, posters crowding the walls and monuments and European and American newspapers fluttering in the wind. You’d need a drum and bugle to be heard over the rest of the touts — oh, wait, she’s got those too.
