Mar 09, 2023 - Sale 2629

Sale 2629 - Lot 39

Unsold
Estimate: $ 800 - $ 1,200

JULES-ALEXANDRE GRÜN (1868-1938)

LES CHANSONNIERS DE MONTMARTRE / TRIANON. 1897.


42 3/4x54 3/4 inches, 108 1/2x139 cm. G. Gerin, Fils, Paris.
Condition B+: replaced losses in margins; repaired tears, extensive creases and abrasions in margins and image and along sharp vertical and horizontal folds. Framed.

In the 1890s Grün was living in Montmartre and had become an integral part of the artistic scene there. In 1897, an aggressive entrepreneur "attempted an outright takeover of the highly flourishing, but limited world of small cabaret owners. At great expense, he built a spacious theatre in the garden next to the Elysée Montmartre and hired away the best cabaret singers [from the area's other smaller venues]" (Grun p. 29). Grün was commissioned to design a poster for the Trianon's opening that showed a gallery of all the big names and stars who would be performing there. Grün also inserted his own portrait, at the far right. The poster is a rare document, perhaps the only one on which all of the major stars of the Montmartre cabarets, at the height of their popularity, appear en masse. Grun p. 29, DFP-II 448, Meisterplakate 108, Cafe Concert 120.