'Fashion, frivolity and flirting', charming early 20th century lithographs. framed in dark wood.

La Vie Parisienne was a French weekly magazine founded in Paris in 1863 and was published without interruption until 1970. Originally it covered novels, sports, theatre, music and the arts, but in 1905 the magazine changed hands and the new editor Charles Saglio made its format to suit the modern reader. It soon evolved into a mildly risqué erotic publication.

During World War I, General Pershing personally warned American servicemen against purchasing the magazine, which boosted its popularity in the United States. La Vie Parisienne was hugely successful because it combined a new mix of subjects; short stories, veiled gossip and fashion banter, also comments about subjects from love and the arts to the stock exchange. With beautiful cartoons and full-page colour illustrations by leading artists of the age it reflected the changing interests and values of the start of the 20th century population.

The artwork of La Vie Parisienne embraced the early 20th century stylization of Art Nouveau and Art Deco illustration, capturing the zeitgeist, and this coupled with the intellectualism, wit and satire of its written contributions was a combination that proved irresistible to the French public.