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Christian Bérard (1902-1949) Two Caricature Sketches, c. 1930's
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Details
One sheet inscribed ‘Bérard – caricature d’ami’ in pencil; the other unsigned.
Sizes:
Frame: 15.5 × 15.5 cm (6.1 × 6.1 in) and 20 × 20 cm (7.9 × 7.9 in) (each sketch in its own navy frame, under glass)
Artwork: Two sketches, framed 15.5 × 15.5 cm (6.1 × 6.1 in) and 20 × 20 cm (7.9 × 7.9 in)
Two scraps of paper of the kind Christian Bérard covered wherever he sat, on tablecloths, menus and the backs of letters: on the first, in pencil and ink, two faces in profile, a hanging lamp and a window frame, inscribed by a contemporary hand ‘Bérard, caricature d’ami’; on the second, in brown ink, the profile of a bald man with a long nose and a thin smile, a single unbroken line from forehead to collar. Each is set in a grey mount within a blue frame.
Bérard (1902–1949), ‘Bébé’ to the Paris of Cocteau, Jouvet and Dior, was the most gifted draughtsman of his circle, and his caricatures of friends, dashed off at dinner and carried away by waiters and guests, are a genre of their own; these two small sheets, bought together in Spain, are examples of that private, affectionate wit.
Provenance
Private Collection, Alicante, Spain.
Condition Report
Pencil and ink, and brown ink, on two small sheets of paper with torn edges, mounted and framed under glass in two blue wooden frames; the sheets lightly toned, one with a small spot at the corner; not examined out of the frames. Please contact us to request a detailed Condition Report.
Shipping
Packed as size XS (up to 40 × 30 cm) · 15.5 × 15.5 cm framed
- Transport and packing ()
- €
- Made-to-measure wooden crate (works over 20,000 €)
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€ (the low estimate to start)
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Insurance is optional. It follows the final hammer price, so with insurance the total moves with the bidding. The work is glazed, which the final quote may price differently. Indicative rates of our shipping partner MBE for packing and door-to-door transport; the final quote is confirmed after the sale. Import duties and taxes outside the EU are paid by the buyer.
We coordinate packing and shipping on your behalf, with insurance available if you’d like it — or you’re welcome to arrange your own. Please see our Shipping Information page for full details before completing your purchase.
Authenticity & Buyer Information
This lot is catalogued under the artist’s name without qualification. Provenance, dating and condition are described to the best of our knowledge; the sale is governed by our Conditions of Sale.
Buyers should review the catalogue carefully and raise any questions before bidding; additional information is not ordinarily provided after the auction.
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What it costs
Bidding on this site, the buyer’s premium is 25%, Spanish IVA included. There is no VAT on the hammer price and no card fee.
| Starting price | Low estimate | High estimate | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hammer price | €300 | €350 | €600 |
| Buyer’s premium 25% (IVA included) | €75 | €88 | €150 |
| Total on auroraathena.com | €375 | €438 | €750 |
| Total through a bidding platform (30%) | €390 | €455 | €780 |
Through LiveAuctioneers, Invaluable, Drouot or Bidspirit the premium is 30%: the same hammer of €600 costs €780 there against €750 here. Shipping and insurance are quoted separately; the estimator below gives the figure for your country. Buyers outside the EU pay no Spanish tax on the lot; the destination’s import rules apply (United States: original paintings and drawings enter duty-free; United Kingdom: 5% import VAT on art). Card payments are accepted up to €10,000; larger amounts by bank transfer.
Questions about this lot
How does the estimate compare with the artist’s recent auction results?
The estimate of €350–€600 is our opinion of the range this work should reach; the starting price of €300 is the lowest bid we accept. We have not published comparable results for this lot; ask us before the sale and we will send the results we based the estimate on.
What will this lot cost in total?
Bidding on this site, the buyer’s premium is 25%, Spanish IVA included, and there is no VAT on the hammer price and no card fee: at the starting price of €300 the total is €375; at the low estimate of €350 the total is €438; at the high estimate of €600 the total is €750.
Through LiveAuctioneers, Invaluable, Drouot or Bidspirit the premium is 30%, so the same hammer of €600 costs €780 there. Shipping and insurance are quoted separately; the estimator on this page gives the figure for your country. Buyers outside the EU pay no Spanish tax on the lot; the destination’s import rules apply (United States: original paintings and drawings enter duty-free; United Kingdom: 5% import VAT on art). Card payments are accepted up to €10,000; larger amounts by bank transfer.
How is this lot catalogued?
Under the artist’s name without qualification. Provenance, dating, condition and value are described to the best of our knowledge; the sale is governed by the Conditions of Sale.
Can I see the condition report, more photographs or the work itself?
A condition report with ultraviolet photographs is prepared on request, normally within two working days; the condition summary on this page is examined in-house and is not a conservator’s report. Further photographs of any detail, the reverse or the frame are sent on request. The work can be examined in our Barcelona showroom by appointment before the sale, and you are welcome to send your own conservator or specialist.
How does bidding work, and can a maximum bid make me overpay?
You can leave a maximum bid before the sale (the sale is on Saturday, November 28th - 17:00 (CET)) or bid live in our online room. A maximum bid is executed by the auctioneer only as much as is needed to stay ahead of other bidders, in the sale’s increments, never above your maximum.
Where a reserve exists it never exceeds the low estimate; a lot without a reserve sells to the highest bid at or above the starting price of €300.
Is there a limit on how much I can bid?
Every account is approved for bidding as soon as the e-mail address is confirmed, with a limit of €5,000 per bid until the identity is verified. The limit applies everywhere: in the live room, on the lot page and to maximum bids. To bid without a limit, verify your identity in your account on this site: it takes about three minutes on a phone, is done once, and the limit is lifted automatically as soon as the check is complete. Please do it at least an hour before the sale.
Christian Bérard
Christian Bérard, ‘Bébé’ to all Paris, was born in the capital on 20 August 1902, the son of an architect, and studied at the Académie Ranson and the Académie Julian under Vuillard and Maurice Denis. In the 1920s he was one of the Neo-Humanist painters shown by the Galerie Druet with Tchelitchew and the Berman brothers, a painter of melancholy figures and portraits whose easel work he later practised almost in secret while his public career ran elsewhere.
That career was the stage and the page: sets and costumes for Louis Jouvet, from Cocteau’s ‘La Machine infernale’ (1934) to Giraudoux’s ‘La Folle de Chaillot’ and Molière, for the Ballets Russes de Monte-Carlo and Roland Petit, and the designs for Cocteau’s film ‘La Belle et la Bête’ (1946); fashion drawings for Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar that defined the look of Schiaparelli, Chanel and the young Dior; and illustrations for Cocteau, Colette and Giraudoux.
He drew constantly, on tablecloths, menus and napkins, and his caricatures of friends became collectors’ pieces in his lifetime. He died in February 1949 during a rehearsal of ‘Les Fourberies de Scapin’ at the Théâtre Marigny, aged forty-six. His work is in the Centre Pompidou, the Musée des Arts décoratifs and the Museum of Modern Art; the monograph edited by Boris Kochno (1987) and the retrospectives at the Palais Lumière in Évian remain the references.
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