Paris, rue du Havre

c. 1882

Jean Béraud

Artist, French, 1849 - 1936

Dozens of pale-skinned men and women, mostly wearing black and charcoal gray, walk or ride in horse-drawn carriages through a busy street lined with buildings in this vertical painting. Most of the people are men, and most of them wear thigh- or knee-high coats and black top hats. A few wear navy blue, brown, or gray, but most are in black. The few women wear long skirts under tight, narrow-waisted bodices, gloves, and hats. The person closest to us, to our left of center, is a woman in a midnight-blue jacket, brown gloves, and a black hat. She holds two round hat boxes, one white and one black, in one hand with a closed umbrella tucked into that elbow. With her other hand she holds up her skirt to reveal a cascade of a white petticoat over a touch of sky-blue stocking within a black shoe. Pink flowers and green leaves, like a narrow corsage, is affixed to the front center of her jacket. Other people carry umbrellas, packages, boxes, or travel cases. The street surface is tan streaked with some touches of smoke gray. A streetlamp a short distance from us, to our left of center, has a central lantern above four more lanterns emanating from the central pole like the arms of a candelabra. The streetlamp sits on tall pedestal surrounded by a curb. The row of buildings lining the streets is closest to us to our right, and it extends into the distance as it angles to our left. Then, along the left edge of the painting, another row of buildings cuts across the street and encloses our view. On the street corner closest to us, posters in shades of butter yellow, white, topaz blue, brown, and red are plastered over a storefront that curves around a corner to our right. A long sign runs across the top of the storefront with white letters against a pale blue background. It reads, “GRANDS MAGASINS DU PRINTEMPS GRANDS ENTRÉE.” Above it a sign reads “Le” and “8 Boul” before being cut off by the right edge of the composition. Scaffolding above the signs is covered with cloths in pale laurel green and parchment brown. Buildings in oatmeal-brown stone with gray roofs extend into the distance to our left. The building facing us far down the street has arched openings along the ground level beneath two stories of windows. The sky in the upper left quadrant is painted with blended strokes of light, arctic blue and white. The artist signed the painting near the lower right corner, “Jean Beraud.”

Media Options

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    oil on canvas

  • Credit Line

    Ailsa Mellon Bruce Collection

  • Dimensions

    overall: 35.2 x 27.3 cm (13 7/8 x 10 3/4 in.)
    framed: 47.6 x 39.4 x 5.4 cm (18 3/4 x 15 1/2 x 2 1/8 in.)

  • Accession

    1970.17.2


Artwork history & notes

Provenance

(Jacques Helft and Co., New York), by 1943;[1] sold to Ailsa Mellon Bruce [1901-1969], New York; gift 1970 to NGA.
[1] Lent by Helft and Co. to 1943 exhibition in New York.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1943

  • Paris: A Loan Exhibition, Coordinating Council of French Relief Societies, New York, 9 December 1943- 9 January 1944, no. 31, repro.

1985

  • Extended loan for use by Secretary George P. Shultz, U.S. Department of State, Washington, D.C., 1985-1989.

1989

  • Extended loan for use by The Supreme Court of the United States, Washington, D.C., 1989-

2016

  • Electric Paris, Bruce Museum of Arts and Science, Greenwich, Connecticut, 2016, no. 34, repro.

2017

  • Degas, Impressionism, and the Paris Millinery Trade, Saint Louis Art Museum; California Palace of the Legion of Honor, San Francisco, 2017, no. 9, repro.

Bibliography

1975

  • European Paintings: An Illustrated Summary Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1975: 28, repro., as Paris Street Scene.

1985

  • European Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1985: 47, repro.

1999

  • Offenstadt, Patrick. Jean Béraud 1849-1935. The Belle Epoque: A Dream of Times Gone By. Catalogue Raisonné. Cologne, 1999: no. 18, repro.

Inscriptions

lower right: Jean Beraud.
Label: (torn) handwritten Magasin...Printemps...Paris; Stamp: Monnat, Paris 184...184

Wikidata ID

Q20189533


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