René Georges HERMANN-PAUL (1864-1940) LA... - Lot 143 - Euvrard & Fabre

René Georges HERMANN-PAUL (1864-1940) LA VENTE HUMBERT Ink and pencil signed lower right and captioned: -We are selling an old scale ... 28 x 36 cm The Humbert affair is one of the biggest "judgment" swindles of the 1900s. Thérèse Humbert claimed for twenty years to have received a large inheritance from an American millionaire out of her imagination, Robert Crawford; and to give consistency to her good fortune she brought multiple lawsuits against the millionaire's imaginary nephews. Of course, she won her lawsuits and thus obtained large loans that she did not repay. Tried in 1902, she was sentenced to five years of hard labour. The trial was a source of inspiration for the comedians and writers of her time. L'Assiette au Beurre even devoted a special issue to the case in 1903. The auction sale of Thérèse Humbert's goods did not go down in the annals of history, as Thérèse Humbert had squandered all her possessions, hence this drawing by Hermann Paul showing the auctioneer selling the symbol of justice, a balance, as well as a dress and a magistrate's or lawyer's hat.