Lot Essay
Fan-shaped paintings were popular in the 19th century, and it is therefore not unusual that Béraud chose this format for Allegory of Rain. This delightful painting is a combination of fantasy and reality. Béraud has painted a plump nude, very reminiscent of Emile Zola's famous femme fatale, Nana, pouring a bucket of water over several Parisians walking in the rain. People walking under umbrellas would have been a frequent sight for Beraud as he observed his fellow Parisians from the carriage he had designed specifically for this purpose. He also may have been inspired by Caillebotte's famous 1877 painting, Paris Street; Rainy Day, a large scale composition that has become synonymous with the sight of Parisians walking under umbrellas.
Like the Impressionist painters, Béraud was a champion of what Charles Baudelaire called 'the heroism of modern life,' and the people in Allegory of Rain are real Parisians that he would have seen rushing in the street to get out of a downpouring of rain. No detail - from the pretty girl who lifts her skirt so as not to splash rain on her dress, to the man nearby who subtly gazes downward at her exposed ankles - has escaped Beraud's keen observation. In the background we see a suggestion of figures riding in an omnibus, their silhouettes blurred by the falling rain.
The style of the painting and the wonderful use of black would point to a date in the 1880s for Allegory of Rain, and in fact this dating is confirmed by a Paris newspaper that is attached to the back of the painting which reads October 1882.
This painting will be included in the forthcoming Béraud catalogue raisonné being prepared by Patrick Offenstadt with the held of the Fondation Wildenstein.
Like the Impressionist painters, Béraud was a champion of what Charles Baudelaire called 'the heroism of modern life,' and the people in Allegory of Rain are real Parisians that he would have seen rushing in the street to get out of a downpouring of rain. No detail - from the pretty girl who lifts her skirt so as not to splash rain on her dress, to the man nearby who subtly gazes downward at her exposed ankles - has escaped Beraud's keen observation. In the background we see a suggestion of figures riding in an omnibus, their silhouettes blurred by the falling rain.
The style of the painting and the wonderful use of black would point to a date in the 1880s for Allegory of Rain, and in fact this dating is confirmed by a Paris newspaper that is attached to the back of the painting which reads October 1882.
This painting will be included in the forthcoming Béraud catalogue raisonné being prepared by Patrick Offenstadt with the held of the Fondation Wildenstein.