His most characteristic theme was glamourous women. During his career he created paintings, lithographs, etchings, pastels, advertisements, posters, book illustrations and more. Born in Toulouse, France, Icart was nicknamed Helli as a boy, which stuck with him even during his artistic career.
As
a young man, Icart frequently read the work of Victor Hugo and longed
to be an actor. However, he initially studied business and after
receiving a business diploma, was called to fight in the war. After a
brief service in the military, Icart found himself in Paris where his
career as an artist would begin. Icart would never be academically
trained in the arts and was almost completely self-taught.