Above: The Marriage of Shiva and Parvati, with Vishnu on her left, 13th century, Angkor, Khmer Empire, Cambodia, Collection of Georges Labit Museum
The son of a wealthy businessman who owned the largest department store in Toulouse, Georges Labit (1862-1899) was not applying himself seriously to his studies, so his father packed him off to Paris to attend the Ecole Superieure de Commerce. Instead of business, Georges developed a fondness for the subjects of history and geography. He also was smitten with the vibrant street scene and managed to accumulate numerous debts, partially from keeping up with the fashionable crowd placing bets on the horse races at Longchamps.
No longer trusting his son to manage his own affairs, Antoine Labit reined in his free-spending ways by placing him under financial guardianship. Georges, however, was able to convince his father to send him to Vienna to further his education in a commercial apprenticeship. The liberated nightlife of fin-de-siecle Vienna appealed to him while his interests continued to broaden with trips throughout Europe from London to St. Petersburg. In addition to learning his way around upscale auction houses, Georges scoured fairs and bazaars for bargain treasures.
Continue reading “Postcard from Toulouse, France: A boulevardier with a collector’s eye”
Postcards from Barton Springs 