Artist: Jean Béraud
Year: ca. 1880
Medium: Oil on canvas
In his pursuit of an active composition and naturalistic image, Béraud was known to sit in his carriage and observe the scenes of the city with his sketchbook in hand, a habit shared by his contemporaries Jean-François Raffaëlli and Giusseppe De Nittis. In the present work, Béraud has placed himself on the Boulevard de Sébastopol and Avenue Victoria, looking through the bustle of the street towards the monumental Tour Saint Jacques. He described his very public process in an undated letter to an unknown correspondent, writing: "you have to vanquish your feelings of artistic modesty so you can work among people who take the most irritating kind of interest in what you're doing. If you cannot overcome your disgust, you will end up locking yourself away in your house, and painting a woman or a still life, like all your colleagues. For some artists, that was all they needed to produce a masterpiece. But I believe that today, we need something different" (as quoted in Patrick Offenstadt, Jean Béraud 1849-1935, The Belle Époque: A Dream of Times Gone By, Catalogue Raisonné, Cologne, 1999, p. 10).
The Tour Saint Jacques is an ornately decorated gothic tower and all that remains of the sixteenth century Church of Saint-Jacques-de-la-Boucherie (Saint James of the butchery) which was demolished in 1793. The tower was purchased by the city of Paris in 1836 and declared a Historic Monument in 1862. The rich decoration reflects the wealth of the church’s patrons, the wholesale butchers of the nearby Les Halles Market, and it is likely no coincidence that Béraud has included a butcher in the active scene below, easily identified by his white apron and the knife sharpener hanging from his belt. Among other types de Paris that Béraud has included are a fashionable woman seen with a hat box and juxtaposed with the humble market girl who walks with her basket of wares; a flâneur stands and smokes while smartly dressed businessmen stroll the street or rush for cabs. Béraud created a body of work that is deeply inquisitive, voyeuristic, and often humorous. He was intrigued by all aspects of la vie parisienne, and was one of its most scrupulous and devoted observers. He once wrote to fellow artist Alfred Roll "I find everything but Paris wearisome" (as quoted in Offenstadt, p. 14). His sophisticated eye was drawn to the characters who populated the bustling streets, cafés and theatres of Paris and his affection for all of these people granted him notoriety and popularity. Marcel Proust described him as "a charming creature, sought in vain, by every social circle" (as quoted in Offenstadt, p. 7). He was described as a perfect gentleman, impeccably dressed and above trends and fashion, likely allowing him to "blend in".
Abandoning his previous ambitions to become a lawyer, Jean Béraud joined Parisian artistic circles and studied portraiture with a leading artist of the third republic, Léon Bonnat. Many of Béraud's well-known contemporaries also passed through Bonnat's studio, including Gustave Caillebotte, Alfred Roll and Toulouse-Lautrec. While Béraud initially emulated his master's choice of subject and painted portraits of women and children as well as genre scenes, he was quickly drawn to representing modern urban life and developed an idiosyncratic style of tight draftsmanship, a light and sophisticated palette, and fine brushwork. The opulent spectacle of the newly created public spaces of Paris became Béraud's choice subject.
This painting was most likely in the collection of Béraud's friend and patron, Armand Dorville. The Musée Carnavalet houses the most important collection of paintings by Jean Béraud as a result of Mr. Dorville's generous donation in 1944.
