Willy ARACTINGI (1930-2003). "The Oyster and the Litigants". Oil on canvas signed and dated 10/94 lower left, titled lower right and countersigned on the back (minor lifting, chips). Height 100 cm - Width : 100 cm Jean de la Fontaine, Livre IX, Fable IX : L'huître et les plaideurs. "One day two pilgrims on the sand met An Oyster, which the flood had just brought: They swallow it with their eyes, with their finger they show it to each other; With regard to the tooth they had to dispute. One was already bending down to gather the prey; The other pushes him, and says: "It's good to know Which of us will have the joy. He who first caught sight of it Will be the gobbler; the other will see it done. - If this is the way to judge the case, says his companion, I have a good eye, thank God. - I don't have a bad one either, Says the other; and I've seen it before you, on my life. - Well then! You've seen it; and I've felt it." During all this lovely incident, Perrin Dandin arrives: they take him on as judge. Perrin, very gravely, opens the Oyster, and notches it, Our two gentlemen looking on. This meal done, he says in a tone of president: "Here, the court gives you each a shell No expenses; and may each of you go home in peace." Put the cost of pleading today; Count what is left for many families; You'll see that Perrin takes all the money for himself, And leaves the litigants only the bag and the skittles." 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. The work is listed in the catalog raisonné under no. 33-05. A certificate of authenticity can be issued by the artist's committee on request.