Rene Gruau (1909-2004) Italian/French, Signed and Numbered Lithograph. Depicts a vivacious Follies Girl dancing along with shadowy figures wearing top hats in a line behind her. Signed in pencil bottom right. Numbered 122/300 in pencil bottom left. 

Overall Size: 42 1/2 x 50 1/2 in. 

Sight Size: 32 1/2 x 38 1/2 in. 

Renato Zavagli Ricciardelli delle Caminate, professionally known as René Gruau, was born in 1909 into an Italian noble family, choosing a career in art and moving to Paris with his mother after his parents separated at age fourteen. He quickly found success working for major fashion publications like Vogue and Marie Claire, and during World War II he worked for Christian Dior and secretly assisted the French Resistance by helping to conceal Jewish refugees. After the war his career took off, and he became synonymous with high fashion, illustrating for magazines like Harper's Bazaar and working for top designers such as Balmain, Balenciaga, and Givenchy in a style influenced by Toulouse-Lautrec and Japanese prints. He later expanded into theatrical posters and advertising, with a wing of the Rimini City Museum dedicated to his legacy and the Louvre and the Museum of Modern Art holding many of his works since his death in Rome in 2004.

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