L'Arche de Noe

As is true for so many of his works, Michel Delacroix has captured the enchantment and magic of a Paris since lost to time. In the 1977 lithograph, “Arche de Noe,” he centers on a storefront painted in blue as rich and vivid as the Mediterranean, the windows decorated with specks of orange goldfish swimming in their tanks. Outside, the sidewalk hosts a display of rabbits, parrots, and other pets for sale inside. However, other creatures inhabit the scene—a horse, goat, cat and two dogs, even a pair of pigeons—which seem to bring to light the duality of the title ‘Arche de Noe’—translated from French to ‘Noah’s Ark’. This clever nod to one of biblical history’s well-known tales reveals that this piece is more than a portrait of a pet store, but another instance of Delacroix clever nuance often hiding within his work.