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拍品專文
Jean Béraud began his artistic training in the studio of Leon Bonnat and began to exhibit regularly at the Paris Salon in 1873. He continued to contribute to the official Salon until 1889, and his work was always well-received there. In 1887, he was made a Chevalier of the Légion d'Honneur and five years later was promoted to officer of the order. In 1889 he was awarded a gold medal for painting at the Universal Exposition.
Jean Béraud's elegant, incisive and often wry depictions of the fluttering social millieu of Belle Epoque Paris prompted Charles Baudelaire to dub him 'the Champion of the Heroism of Modern Life.'
Le concert privé, Béraud's Salon entry of 1911, depicts one of the more favored forms of entertainment among the privileged classes of the fin de siecle: the private entertainment by a well-known and usually very sought-after musician in the salon or drawing room of the lucky hostess. Béraud, a master of both detail and atmosphere, captures both in this charming composition. Only an artist of Béraud's enormous talent could so convincingly recreate on canvas both the overall glow of the room as well as the most minute details. The masterful rendition of the light reflecting off the chandelier and onto the mirror as well as the reflection of the bright light beneath the shaded lamp onto the musicians' sheet music are all testimony to the brilliance of the artist at capturing the ambience of the scene. The artist then adds to this remarkable interior the most interesting assortment of figures: the diva in her beaded dress and shawl; an audience made up of predominantly women of a certain age; and the men, relegated to standing in the background from which, no doubt, an escape can more readily be made. The artist's extraordinary ability clearly extends to his sense of humor.
Raymond Bouyer, in his critique of the 1911 Salon, wrote: 'The Club and The Party (the present work) by M. Jean Béraud contain a number of faces that will be instantly recognizable to Parisians. In France, there is no conflict between portraiture and satire.' (Raymond Bouyer, 'Les Salons de 1911', La revue de l'art ancien and moderne, 1911, p. 362.)
Jean Béraud's elegant, incisive and often wry depictions of the fluttering social millieu of Belle Epoque Paris prompted Charles Baudelaire to dub him 'the Champion of the Heroism of Modern Life.'
Le concert privé, Béraud's Salon entry of 1911, depicts one of the more favored forms of entertainment among the privileged classes of the fin de siecle: the private entertainment by a well-known and usually very sought-after musician in the salon or drawing room of the lucky hostess. Béraud, a master of both detail and atmosphere, captures both in this charming composition. Only an artist of Béraud's enormous talent could so convincingly recreate on canvas both the overall glow of the room as well as the most minute details. The masterful rendition of the light reflecting off the chandelier and onto the mirror as well as the reflection of the bright light beneath the shaded lamp onto the musicians' sheet music are all testimony to the brilliance of the artist at capturing the ambience of the scene. The artist then adds to this remarkable interior the most interesting assortment of figures: the diva in her beaded dress and shawl; an audience made up of predominantly women of a certain age; and the men, relegated to standing in the background from which, no doubt, an escape can more readily be made. The artist's extraordinary ability clearly extends to his sense of humor.
Raymond Bouyer, in his critique of the 1911 Salon, wrote: 'The Club and The Party (the present work) by M. Jean Béraud contain a number of faces that will be instantly recognizable to Parisians. In France, there is no conflict between portraiture and satire.' (Raymond Bouyer, 'Les Salons de 1911', La revue de l'art ancien and moderne, 1911, p. 362.)