"Trapped" by Jean Auscher (FR, 1896-1950), original etching, marked “PF” (preuve d’essai (trial proof)), created in 1925, signed, created for use in Les Amertumes ("Bitterness") folio, a collection of poems by André Haguenauer, loose - 10” x 12 1/2”
 
Auscher is one of two artists responsible for my passion for art and art collecting.
 
Auscher was the son of prominent Art Nouveau architect Paul Auscher. He studied at l’Ecole des Arts Decoratifs in Paris and exhibited at the Salon d’Automne and Salon des Tuileries between 1923 and 1933. Described as “one of the black angels of the world of illustration” he is known for his harsh, decadent depictions of Parisian society during the Les Années Folles (The Crazy Years) of the 1920s, which were intended as social criticisms. He often collaborated with satirical magazines and authors. It’s been said of his work that it is “harsh, morbid, hard-hitting, nightmarish, burlesque, and brutally describes a world of ‘bad morals’ with a ‘sort of regret at having to describe such repulsive objects, a secret compassion towards … degenerates, victims of confused heredity …” His later work was noted for illustrations depicting the court proceedings taken against the collaborationist Vichy France government after WWII, including those against Marshall Philippe Pétain.