April Fools' Day Love Note
France: 1902
Pen, ink, and watercolor on stiff paper
8.5 x 5 inches
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April Fools' Day Love Note
French Watercolor, 1902
French Watercolor, 1902
Ornate, exquisitely rendered Art Nouveau illustration, perhaps a love note on the occasion of April Fools' Day. The elaborate design entwines the metalwork tracery of the gothic letter G with floral vines; the G is in the form of a trade sign such as would hang outside a shop.
A young man on one knee, in medieval garb, gazes up at a pretty young woman in the upper left corner. He bears a fanciful red and green fish on a platter from which rises a spiraling red plume hovering in the air as a question mark for the inscription, "Puisse-t-il être plus durable qu'un frivole poisson d'avril?" ("Could it be more lasting than a frivolous April fish?") Above the fish is the date Avril (April) 1902. This refers to the traditional April Fools' Day joke in France in which pranksters attach a cut-out paper fish known as a poisson d'avril -- literally "April fish" -- to the back of an unsuspecting victim.
On the back of the drawing is the enigmatic inscription, "A chacun son tour" -- "To each his own journey" -- possibly a personal dedication by the artist. Perhaps this drawing was a love note to the woman shown in the drawing, whose name had the initial "G," the artist asking whether their love will last or be as ephemeral as a paper fish. Alternatively, this might have been one illustration in a series of the months of the year, with the letter "G" referring to something in the series.