Jean Béraud

A Tour of Jean Béraud’s Art

After the Service at Holy Trinity Church, Christmas 1890
- “After the Service at Holy Trinity Church, Christmas 1890” by Jean Béraud depicts wealthy Americans and English families exiting the American Cathedral in Paris, formally known as the Cathedral Church of the Holy Trinity. Béraud’s skills are evident in this precisely detailed painting of a cold winter’s Christmas streetscape capturing the fashion and transportation of Paris in the 1890s.
  
  The two women in the center of the canvas are the most detailed in their furs, floral hats with their elegant faces and hair protected by transparent veils. The church with the flags of the US and French flags in front was completed in 1886 in the Gothic Revival style and catered to expatriates, students, tourists, and business travelers preferring English-speaking Episcopal services. Museum: Musée Carnavalet
“La Pâtisserie Gloppe” by Jean Béraud
- “La Pâtisserie Gloppe” by Jean Béraud shows the interior of a pâtisserie on the Champs-Élysées as well as the clientele and employees. The clients represent the wealthier parts of society of the 1890s, enjoying a variety of pâtisserie with beverages. Adults and children are all shown in various stages of selecting or tasting some delicacy. Two employees dressed in black and wearing long white aprons are serving their customers. A well-behaved black dog, with a shiny collar and gemstones, is waiting in anticipation.
  
  The shop is decorated in gold trim, and a gold chandelier with four white candles hangs from the ceiling. The decorations and people are reflected in the large mirror on the back wall of the room. Other narrower mirrors are also located on the sides of the room to create the illusion of a larger room. Museum: Musée Carnavalet
Jean Béraud’s Art
- A Windy Day on the Pont des Arts
  - “A Windy Day on the Pont des Arts” by Jean Béraud depicts the pedestrian bridge spanning the Seine between the Institut de France, visible in the background, and the Cour Carrée of the Louvre. Béraud positioned himself on the Quai du Louvre and showed a sample of Parisian society crossing the bridge on a windy grey day.
    
    Pont des Arts is the name of the footbridge with a unique view of Paris. It has sometimes served as a place for art exhibitions and is today a “studio en Plein air” for painters, artists, and photographers. Since late 2008, tourists have taken to attaching padlocks (love locks) with their first names written or engraved on them to the railing or the grate on the side of the bridge, then throwing the key into the Seine river below, as a romantic gesture. Museum: Metropolitan Museum of Art – MET
- Sunday at the Church of Saint-Philippe-du-Roule, Paris
  - “Sunday at the Church of Saint-Philippe-du-Roule, Paris” by Jean Béraud depicts a view of the rue du Faubourg St.-Honoré, in Paris which had recently become a fashionable shopping street. The church in the painting was designed in the eighteenth century and was listed as a historical monument in1993. Its style, with classical Greek columns, makes it looks like that of a Roman temple with stained-glass windows. It was built on the site of a destroyed chapel in 1739 under the sponsorship of Louis XV, who wanted to give back a sanctuary to the district.
    
    This painting was exhibited in the Salon of 1877 and was seen as a visual record of contemporary Parisian life. Museum: Metropolitan Museum of Art – MET
- Parisian Place de la Concorde
  - “Parisienne place de la Concorde” by Jean Béraud depicts a fashionable woman holding a package crossing one of the major public squares in Paris, France, on a winter’s day. The Place de la Concorde is the largest square in the French capital and the site of many notable public executions during the French Revolution. Museum: Musée Carnavalet

Name: Jean Béraud
Born: 1849, Saint Petersburg
Died: 1935 (aged 86), Paris
Nationality: French
Notable work:
- After the Service at Holy Trinity Church, Christmas 1890
- “La Pâtisserie Gloppe” by Jean Béraud
- Jean Béraud’s Art
  - A Windy Day on the Pont des Arts
  - Sunday at the Church of Saint-Philippe-du-Roule, Paris
  - Parisian Place de la Concorde