Japhet (Paul Leon JAZET) (French, 1848 - 1918)
Paul-Léon JAZET, born 13 June 1848 in Paris and died in 1918, was a French painter, the son of the engraver Alexandre-Jean-Louis JAZET (1814–21 February 1897), who was the first to sign his drawings "JAPHET". For much of his career, he was mostly known for genre scenes, portraits and military subjects, but it is suggested that later in his career JAZET son broadened his interests, and that the art work attributed to his father Alexandre-Jean-Louis JAZET, produced during the late Belle Époque and the Art Nouveau periods and signed by the pseudonym "Japhet", was in fact produced by Paul-Léon JAZET. Such work included fans, postcards, posters and costume design for comic opera and theatre. This included costume designs for the famous dancer and actress Loïe FULLER whose swirling silk costumes and theme dresses, such as a dress strongly inspired by a butterfly, exemplified the new approach expressing organic forms characteristic of the Art Nouveau period.