May 08, 2006 - Sale 2079

Sale 2079 - Lot 34

Price Realized: $ 7,475
?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 5,000 - $ 7,500
FRANCIS BERNARD (1900-1979) BAL DES PETITS LITS BLANCS. 1929.
62x45 5/8 inches. Paul Martial, Paris.
Condition B: restored losses in margins, affecting image; repaired tears, creases, minor loss and abrasions in image.
In Francis Bernard, a catalogue of the artist's work by Denis Ozanne & Nicolas Bailly, at the Chisholm Gallery, New York, 1997, Merrill Berman describes this poster as "a constructivist format with strong Art Deco motifs." As with all of his posters, Bernard follows very rigorous rules of construction, tirelessly using the diagonal. He has added a charming and elegant Art Deco rendering which fits perfectly into the event he is promoting. The Bal des Petits Lits Blancs (Ball of the Little White Beds) was Paris' most important charity event to raise money for children's hospitals. The yearly benefit was held at the Opera, and the biggest stars would come out and entertain tout Paris. The official sponsor was the newspaper L'Intransigeant, which Bernard uses as the background for the image. The paper was immortalized in 1925, when Cassandre designed an exceptional poster for them; a reduced version of his image appears here, behind the man's head. The elegant couple is depicted in a soft surrealist way, yet rigidly aligned with the columns of the newspaper. A masterpiece of Art Deco design.