Oct 02, 2003 - Sale 1978

Sale 1978 - Lot 39

Price Realized: $ 1,840
?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 1,000 - $ 1,500
CH GIR. 1928.
233/4x153/4 inches. H. Chachoin, Paris.
Condition B+: restoration and light foxing in top margin; minor restoration in image.
Charles Gir (1883-1941) was a well known painter and poster designer who worked for various theaters and music halls. (His wife, Jeanne Fusier-Gir, was a famous actress). He also did a lot of sketches, drawings, and even sculptures based on the opera and ballet (he was such a fan that he attended the opera every day for 20 years). For his fellow painter and "his friend" (as Colin signed the poster), Colin creates a memorable image that stands out from his other poster-portraits. Here, Colin does not show his subject's face instead choosing to place him en situ. Gir is depicted as an artist at work at the inspirational crossroads between music and art. Seen only in silhouette, the artist appears between a piano (which bears the title of the poster), and the suggestive outline of a cello in the foreground, and a painting of a ballerina, seemingly in a spotlight in the background. This is the smaller of two formats. Weill/Rennert no. 115, p. 92.