Provenance:

Galerie du Passage, Paris.

Sotheby's, New York, sale of June 12, 2009, lot 63.

Acquired directly from the above sale by the present owner.

Literature:

"Paris Notes," Vogue, August 1947, p. 157 (for a description of Bérard's decor).

Irene Lidova, "La Nuit du Panache," L'Officiel de la Mode, 1947, pp. 66-67, nos. 305-306 (for period images and descriptions of the event).

Jean-Claude Daufresne, Fêtes à Paris au XXe Siècle: Architectures Éphémères de 1919 à 1989, Paris, 2001, pp. 205-206.

Lot Note:

Christian Bérard emerged as a versatile creative figure in early twentieth-century France, working across painting, illustration and stage design. Shaped in part by the intimate, atmospheric work of Édouard Vuillard, he became closely involved with the Parisian avant-garde during the years between the wars. His wide-ranging collaborations brought him into close contact with figures such as Alberto Giacometti, Jean-Michel Frank, Coco Chanel, and Jean Cocteau. Moving easily between disciplines, Bérard became a ubiquitous figure in the Parisian theater scene before his life was cut short at the age of 46.

The pair of cartouches here relate to Bérard's set design compositions for the Ballet des Champs-Elysées, created for the "Bal du Panache" party which was held at the Maison de l' Amerique Latine, in Paris during the summer of 1947. Bérard conceived of the event, an idea supported by British ambassador Sir Alfred Duff Cooper for the benefit of the Marie-Thérèse Health Center in Malakoff. One of the first few large events hosted after the second World War, the party was seen as a vibrant return to a pre-war glittering Parisian social scene. The décor consisted of vined trellises, painted heraldry and white-plumed suits of armor, and female guests were encouraged to wear feathered hair ornaments. These particular cartouches were incorporated into the elaborate boiseries of the grand salon of Maison de l' Amerique Latine, and remain a rare momento of this ephemeral moment.