Jean Béraud

Paris, Salon, 1901, no. 73

Maurice Hamel, Salons de 1901, Paris, 1901, illustrated
M. Demaison, "Les Salons de 1901. La Peinture," La Revue de l'art ancien et moderne, 1901, p. 402
Paul Leroi, "Salons de 1901, Ce qu'il faut y voir," L'Art, 1901, p. 261 
Arsène Alexandre, "Les Salons de 1901. Société nationale des beaux-arts," Le Figaro, April 21, 1901
Louis de Fourcaud, "Les Salons de 1901. Société nationale des beaux-arts," Le Gaulois, supplément au journal, April 21, 1901, p. 1
Furetières, "Vernissages. Société nationale des beaux-arts," Le Soleil, April 21, 1901, p. 2
B. Guineaudeau, "Le Salon. Société nationale des beaux-arts," Le Temps, supplement, April 21, 1901, p. 2 
"Le Salon de la Société nationale des beaux-arts. Toiles sensationnelles," La Nation, April 22, 1901, p. 2
Marcel Fouquier, "Le Salon de la Société nationale des beaux-arts. La peinture," Le XIXeme Siècle, April 22, 1901, p. 1
J. Torlet, "Le vernissage," L'Aurore, April 22, 1901, p.2
G. Denoinville, "Le Salon de 1901. Société nationale des beaux-arts," Le Voltaire, April 23, 1901, p. 3
Aug. Dalligny, "Le Salon de 1901. Société nationale des beaux-arts," Le journal des arts, April 24th, 1901, p. 1
Tutur, "Oh!, héles peintres, lettre de Tutur à Toto," Gil Blas, April 27, 1901, p.1
Octave Mirbeau, "Le Christ proteste," Le Journal, April 28, 1901
Le Monde illustré, May 4, 1901, illustrated as cover
"Société nationale des beaux-arts," L'Illustration, May 4, 1901, p. 299, illustrated 
M. Tourneaux, "Le premier Salon du XXe siècle," Gazette des beaux-arts, June 1901, p. 469H.-P. Linel, "Le Salon de 1901," Le Figaro, June 12, 1901, p. 3
F. Hoffman, "L'exposiotion de la Société nationale des beaux arts," Le Journal des arts, June 13, 1901, p. 2
"Une histoire de Jean Béraud," Le Petit Journal, October 11, 1935, p. 2
Patrick Offenstadt, Jean Béraud, 1849-1935, The Belle Époque: A Dream of Times Gone By, catalogue raisonné, Cologne, 1999, p. 272, no. 360, illustrated

Unlined, recently restored. Under UV: Inpainting visible throughout composition.
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In Jean Béraud’s Le Christ lié à la colonne, the central figure of Christ is depicted with all of the attributes of the Passion: the bloody reed and the crown of thorns, radiant halo and ecstatic expression. Much like Jean-Jacques-Joseph Tissot and other artists before him, Béraud became interested in religious subjects towards the end of his life and modernized the narrative by situating his scenes within contemporary Paris and including archetypal figures who he may have observed on the city’s streets. The painting was a sensation when it was exhibited at the Paris Salon in 1901. As one viewer reported at the time: “Jean Béraud represents Christ tied to the column by the Freemasons and Republicans. The old painters - Holbein in Basel, Fra Angelico in San Marco - showed Him scourged by the soldiers. Who should we believe??” (as translated from the French, “Les Salons de 1901,” La Revue de Paris, year 8, vol. 3, May-June 1901, p. 601). Béraud’s ambitious statement may be viewed as a response to France’s increasingly secular society, a subject that he explored in his Salon submissions of 1894 and 1912, each titled Le Chemin de Croix (1894, unlocated, Offenstadt no. 259; and 1912, unlocated, Offenstadt no. 260).

The appearance of this painting marks an important rediscovery in Béraud’s oeuvre; it probably has not been exhibited since the Salon of 1901 and its location has remained unknown ever since.

Please note this lot will be sold unframed.