Willy ARACTINGI (1930-2003). "The Monkey and the Leopard". Oil on canvas signed and dated 94 lower left, titled and countersigned on the back. Height 100 cm - Width : 100 cm Jean de la Fontainen, Fable III of Book IX: The Monkey and the Leopard: "... The monkey was right: it's not in the clothes That diversity pleases me, it's in the spirit. One always provides pleasant things; The other, in less than a moment, wearies the beholder. O, what great lords, like leopards, Have only the habit for all talents!" Note: Willy Aractingi, born in New York then raised in Caïre, decided to settle in Beirut in the 1940s. He describes himself as a primitive naïve artist, with a humorous style and use of flat tints reminiscent of Douanier Rousseau. He mainly paints scenes of life and landscapes that surround him, as well as illustrating Lebanese fairy tales. In 1989, he began his great masterpiece illustrating the 244 Fables by Jean de La Fontaine, which he hoped to complete in 1995 for the 300th anniversary of the famous fabulist's birth. All his works are on permanent display at the Galerie des Fables at the Domaine des Patrus in Brie Champenoise. The work is listed in the catalog raisonné as n°32-39. A certificate of authenticity can be issued by the artist's committee on request.