Shackled Soul

Louis Icart (1888-1950, France.) "Shackled Soul" is a colored etching, with pencil signature of the artist. Originally created in 1928, this image is of a ghost of a beautiful woman with a chained, shackled man in hell. It was used as an illustration for the 1944 edition of Goethe's "Faust," who sold his soul to the devil. Each Louis Icart etching was enhanced with hand coloring. While he generally hand signed his etchings in the lower right corner he usually didn't do the hand coloring. This would have been done by his studio. The size is 9.5" x 7" and the artwork is framed to museum specifications, measuring 23" x 20."

After fighting in World War I and upon moving to Paris in 1907, Icart concentrated on painting, drawing and the production of countless beautiful etchings, which have served (more than the other mediums) to indelibly preserve his name in twentieth century art history. When he returned from the front he made prints from the drawings he had created as a means to cope with the war. These aquatint and dry-point prints were much in demand, so Icart frequently made two editions (one European, the other American) to satisfy his public. Icart's etchings reached their height of brilliance in the era of Art Deco in Paris in the 1920's, as the artist became the symbol of the epoch. He was successful, both artistically and financially. Today, these prints are considered rare and valuable at auction.