Ray Ventura

Jean Dominique van Caulaert was a favorite painter of the French art deco period. Starting in 1933, he began painting personalities and show business stars of Paris including Edith Piaf, Tino Rossi, Mistinguett, Rena Kaetty and Nita Rahia. Van Caulert's poster career began in the late 1930s. He dedicated himself to the stars of the Music Halls, working only for the biggest names: Marie Dubas, Lyse Gauty, Mistinguett, etc. He primarily employed chalk and pastels to create his realistic portraits. Caulaert was a French painter, poster artist, illustrator and designer. He created his first poster in Belgium 1916. In 1923 and 1924, he illustrated covers of sheet music for a Belgian editor. Magritte and other painters, also, worked in this publisher's musical office. In the 1930s, he executed numerous posters for Mistinguett, Marie Dubas, Josephine Baker, Cecile Sorel, Suzy Solidor, Lys Gauty and Tino Rossi. A portrayer of talent, he painted all of Paris until the 1950s. He left for the USA in 1951 and worked 8 months a year in New York and 4 in Paris until his death at the Villa des Arts in Montmartre. He was made a Knight of the Legion of Honor.