Sterne Stevens, project Ford cars Carrosserie Devaux Bruxelles et Lux, watercolour on paper

Rare project by the American illustrator, active in illustration, advertising and fantasy magazines.
In 1905, he moved to Minneapolis to work as a journalist and cartoonist.
He studied with the German artist Robert Koehler.
Koehler and Alphonse Mucha encouraged Steven to move to Belgium in 1910, to study at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp.
In 1914, he joined the US Army.
The work can be dated between 1910 and 1914.
Devaux is not the make of the car, but the name of the coachbuilder.
Felix Devaux assembled, distributed and bodied vehicles for Belgium and Luxembourg from 1918 onwards. He began by importing and bodybuilding Fords. Initially T-models, later A-models, but also Lincolns, Nashes, Internationals and Austins, whose bodies could be completely redesigned, not forgetting the many French brands available in Belgium.
He first set up shop in a very large building at no. 63, chaussée d'Ixelles in Brussels. Large display windows open onto the showroom, behind which are the offices. A huge inner courtyard is accessed via a large entrance that allows trucks and cars to pass through.