Eddie Vitch Vintage Caricature Drawing of Blanche La Gue

Item Details

Untitled, circa 1935
Ink, graphite, and colored pencil on paper
Signed to lower right
Subject’s name, location, and date marked to verso

A caricature drawing of Blanche La Gue by well-known caricature and mime artist Ignaze Levkovitch or Eddie Vitch (Polish, 1903 -1986), dated to the 1930’s. This drawing depicts exaggerated features of the subject rendered in bold black ink lines with colored pencil lip hue. Marked to the verso is the subject’s name, location, and date. It is presented in a vintage black wooden frame behind glass.
Eddie Vitch was notorious for drawing Hollywood’s most famous stars at the Brown Derby Restaurant during the ‘Golden Age of Hollywood.’ Under the encouragement of Charlie Chaplin, he went on to become a famous comedy mime. He was of Jewish origin and survived Nazi Germany by performing. After being spotted in Paris by Nazi officers and sent to perform wherever they told him to go, it is still a mystery as to how he survived.
He retired from the entertainment industry in 1966 and moved to Australia.

Condition

- to fair; toning and discoloration to ground; surface abrasions and chips to edges of frame; toning and punctures to verso

Dimensions

- measures frame; visible image measures 10.5" W x 13.75" H

Item #

18DAL233-402