Woodcut on vélin d'Arches paper. Paper size: 15 x 10.75 inches. Excellent condition. Inscription: signed in the plate and unnumbered, as issued. Notes: from the folio, Vingt fables de La fontaine, 1961. Published by Éditions Jaspard Polus et Cie, Monaco; printed by Imprimerie du Compagnonnage, Paris, October, 1961, in an edition of 299. YVES BRAYER (1907-1990) was a French painter known for his paintings of everyday life. Although he was independent and never belonged to a school, he was friends with Francis Gruber, the founder of the Nouveau Réalisme school. He first exhibited in the salons of 1927, and then traveled to Spain, where the masterpieces in the Prado Museum had a profound influence on him. After a stay in Morocco, he went to Italy, where he won the Grand Prix de Rome in 1930. After the war, he traveled widely to Mexico, Egypt, Iran, Greece, Russia, the United States and Japan, trying to capture the light and colors of each country. He was interested in the techniques of copper plate engraving and lithography and produced illustrations for editions of such authors as Charles Baudelaire and Paul Claudel. He also created murals and wall ornamentations, tapestry cartoons, maquettes, sets, and costumes for the Théâtre Français and the operas of Paris, Amsterdam, Nice, Lyon, Toulouse, Bordeaux, and Avignon. In 1954 Brayer was awarded to Grand prix des Beaux-Arts de la Ville de Paris, and he was elected to the Académie des Beaux-Arts in 1957. He was president of the Salon d'Automne for five years. In 1977 he was made curator of the Musée Marmottan in Paris, a position he held for 11 years.