La Contravention
Lithography on paper
Fernand Fernel (known to also sign his works as F. Cerckel and Ferdinand Fernandez) was a Belgian Art Nouveau painter, cartoonist, illustrator and poster designer whose favorite themes were automobiles, aviation, sports and the circus. He is known as one of the pioneers of the Belgian artistic poster and he worked with the main Parisian lithographic printing houses such as Devambez, Chaix, Vercasson, Cerf and Lemercier.
Here Fernel envisions “The Traffic Fine” (“La Contravention”). A couple are racing at high speed in their automobile whilst a policeman tries to write a traffic fine for their excessive speed. The policeman is however on a bicycle and is having trouble catching up to them. The woman in the automobile knows this and sticks her tongue out at the policeman.
Dietrich & Co. Editeurs, Bruxelles