Art, Framed Prints, I love lucy, I love Lucy Props, Utrillo

I love Lucy Prop: Utrillo Painting Print

PROP PAINTING SCREEN-USED ON I LOVE LUCY
PROP PAINTING SCREEN-USED ON I LOVE LUCY

This is the screen-used original Utrillo print “Restaurant au Mont Cenis” we can see on so many episodes of  “I love Lucy” It was sold at auction on July 30, 2013  by PROFILES IN HISTORY for $8,000.  It is a print from an original painting of a street in Montmartre, Paris, by Maurice Utrillo, a native of Montmartre, who painted it in 1922.  It is interesting to compare it to the vintage postcard circa 1908,  photographed from an almost identical vantage point

PARIS – La Rue du Mont-Cenis, Montmartre, postcard stamped1908
PROP PAINTING SCREEN-USED ON I LOVE LUCY
Framed Utrillo print seen on the set of I love Lucy

The description of the auction lot:
“Prop painting screen-used for many years on I Love Lucy. (c. 1950s) This 26 x 21.5 in. screen-print of a French street scene hung on the “Ricardo’s” living room wall for many seasons of I Love Lucy. The painting is highly visible on the wall just left of the apartment’s front door. The instantly recognizable piece was originally painted by Maurice Utrillo (1883-1955), French cityscape painter, in 1922. The print is tipped to a 27.25 x 22.25 in. backing board. Border of the print exhibits heavy mounting residue and matting remnants. Image remains clean and in very good condition. From the estate of Elois Jenssen. COA”

I found it difficult to locate vintage prints of this 1922 Utrillo Painting for sale online.  (Update: There is one on offer HERE – still available as of  Oct 9 2015 – I dont know the size). There was an eBay seller offering unframed copies of one they own – click here for details. or on the picture below.

lucypainting
An alternative print to look for is of the almost identical painting also by Utrillo,  dated to 1940 in the auction listing referenced below, titled “LE CERCLE CATHOLIQUE DU SACRE-COEUR, RUE DU MONT-CENIS, MONTMARTRE,   In this painting the reference seems to be the much earlier period showing the previous sign over the door as seen in the postcard print.

LE CERCLE CATHOLIQUE DU SACRE-COEUR, RUE DU MONT-CENIS, MONTMARTRE, circa 1940. 65,5 x 92 cm (25 3/4 x 36 1/8 in) Collection Paul Petrides
LE CERCLE CATHOLIQUE DU SACRE-COEUR, RUE DU MONT-CENIS, MONTMARTRE,  Collection Paul Petrides

 

utrillo-maurice-1883-1955-fran-le-cercle-catholique-du-sacre-3192056
Le Cercle Catholique du Sacré-Coeur, rue du Mont-Cenis à Montmartre

Utrillo came back to this view a number of times in his work, I have seen an even earlier version with a blue sky ( There are copies of this one for sale here ) that was done before 1922  and a snow scene of the same location ( copy available here  and another snow scene here). mont-cenis-street-in-the-snow

The Location as it appears today in Google Maps
The Location as it appears today in Google Maps

Ref:

Results of Copyright search for the print seen on the show:

Type of Work:      Visual Material

Registration Number / Date: RE0000001002 / 1978-03-07 
Renewal registration for: H00000001891 / 1950-07-26  
Title:  Restaurant au Mont Cenis.  By Maurice Utrillo, author of renewable matter: Anton Schutz.
Copyright Claimant:   New York Graphic Society, Ltd. (PWH)
Variant title:     Restaurant au Mont Cenis.

Names:   Schutz, Anton
Utrillo, Maurice, 1883-1955. 
New York Graphic Society, Ltd.

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