L’Eventail pour la Fete Henri Monnier (Fan for the Henri Monnier Gala)

Late 19th century European and American artists appropriated many new formats and motifs from the examples of East Asian artwork and material culture that were now so readily available. Hand held semi-circular fans were popular in European courts of the 18th century, but impressionist and post-impressionist artists took new interest in the format, associating it with the urban street life seen in Japanese woodblock prints. Lepere and Dillon made these fan prints for The Henri Monnier Gala, a fundraiser for political caricaturists held in 1904 at the Casino de Paris theater.