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Lot Essay
Christian Bérard, known for his fashion drawings in Vogue and costume designs for the theater and ballet during the second half of the thirties, became associated with Jean-Michel Frank and his circle of artists and craftsmen who collaborated with the designer to create luxurious interiors. Called Bébe, Bérard sometimes spent the summer with Frank in Hyères, France, at the home of the Vicomte and Vicomtesse de Noailles, Frank's greatest patrons.
Bérard created designs for carpets, motifs for seat upholstery, trompe-l'oeil decoration for woodwork, and painted scenery for screens. While his whimsical trompe-l'oeil decoration appeared in a room in the Institut Guerlain in Paris, 1939, his painterly talent showed in his four panel screen for Mme. Artaud's large drawing room in her apartment. A view of this room also shows two leather armchairs with inlaid colored embellishment by Mlle. Classen-Smith, who specialized in leather inlays on cloth, after drawings by Bérard.
Also in 1939, Bérard's carpets provided the backdrop for Frank's metal and brushed oak furniture in a Buenos Aires drawing room, where the walls were covered in vellum and doors finished in bronze. Bérard's close association with Frank is further emphasized by his screen for Mme. Artaud that is both framed and signed by the designer.
Bérard created designs for carpets, motifs for seat upholstery, trompe-l'oeil decoration for woodwork, and painted scenery for screens. While his whimsical trompe-l'oeil decoration appeared in a room in the Institut Guerlain in Paris, 1939, his painterly talent showed in his four panel screen for Mme. Artaud's large drawing room in her apartment. A view of this room also shows two leather armchairs with inlaid colored embellishment by Mlle. Classen-Smith, who specialized in leather inlays on cloth, after drawings by Bérard.
Also in 1939, Bérard's carpets provided the backdrop for Frank's metal and brushed oak furniture in a Buenos Aires drawing room, where the walls were covered in vellum and doors finished in bronze. Bérard's close association with Frank is further emphasized by his screen for Mme. Artaud that is both framed and signed by the designer.