Lepape’s ink and watercolour cover design Le Miroir, for the November 1927 issue of Vogue, sold for $50,000, well above its $6000-9000 estimate.
The signed artwork, dated 1927, sold at Swann Auction Galleries' Illustration Art sale in New York on September 29.
Lepape made his name in the world of fashion illustration after meeting fashion designer Paul Poiret and illustrated his famous brochure, Les Choses de Paul Poiret.
He later worked for top fashion magazines including French fashion magazine Gazette du Bon Ton, Harper’s Bazaar, Vanity Fair and Vogue.
The Swann auction included a number of original illustrations such as a Charles Addams cartoon made for The New Yorker which sold for $16,000.
However another 1920s fashion cover was the other highlight of the day. La Cage Improvisée, a gouache artwork by Erté, which was used as the cover for the July 1922 issue of Harper’s Bazaar, had an estimate of $6000-9000, and sold for $36,000.
