Lou Myers
(1915-2005)
Paris Red Light District. Circa 1970.
Ink on vellum applied to Bristol board.

  • Provenance:
    Private collection, Connecticut.

    Other notes:
    Parisian life was a familiar subject for Lou Myers who was born in the City of Lights and lived there for much of his adult life. While Myers immigrated to New York with his family at age two and grew up in America, he enlisted in the Navy and returned to Europe during World War 2, then relocated to Paris in the early 1950s. It was around this time that Myers illustrated Paris After Dark, the style of which this illustration closely resembles. The piece also bears strong similarity to a 1973 poster that Myers designed promoting his services, which featured sordid goings-on in New York's Times Square.

    Myers lent his inimitable style to a wide range of publications, including The New Yorker (to which, like James Thurber, he also contributed writing), The New York Times, The Nation, Esquire, and Playboy. He also famously designed the poster for the 1978 French comedy classic La Cage aux Folles.
  • Dimensions: 17 x 25 in. (43.2 x 63.5 cm.)
  • Medium: Ink on vellum applied to Bristol board.
  • Condition: Handling wear and mild soil. Some of the vellum clippings are loose and prone to becoming detached. The backing paper has a diagonal crease at bottom right corner.

    Please contact the Specialist for the auction to request a condition report.

    Condition reports and additional images are provided as a courtesy and should be used by you to aid in the formation of your own opinion regarding condition. All material is sold subject to Swann's standard Terms and Conditions of Sale as published in our catalogues and posted on our website, and include the following terms: (1) all property is sold "as-is"; and (2) works cannot be returned on the basis of condition.

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by Swann Auction Galleries
June 18, 2026 12:00 PM EDT
104 East 25th Street
New York, NY, US 10010

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