La Guêpe. ca. 1893.

ARTIST: EUGÈNE OGÉ (1869-1936) SIZE: 38 3/4 x 52 5/8 in./98.5 x 133.7 cm PRINTER: Imp. Charles Verneau, Paris DESCRIPTION: “For the cycle brand La Guêpe, undoubtedly a brand of the French manufacturer E. Lévy, Ogé portrays a dapper young woman on a bicycle in a fresh and assertive design. The young velocipedist (is it an allegory of the animal or a young music hall artist dressed as a wasp?) wears a canary yellow tutu, tights, a leotard, long black gloves, and above all a curious headpiece with antennae and splendid transparent wings on the back; here we recognize the premises of the humorous style that Ogé will develop at the turn of the century. As for the name of the brand, which undoubtedly evokes lightness and speed, it will also gain a great notoriety for another type of two-wheeler: wasp is called ‘vespa’ in Italian” (Ailes, p. 16). (Art Nouveau; Bicycles)