1849 - Saint Petersburg, Russia - 1935 Paris)

Scenes of daily life painted by Jean Beraud reveal interest in Naturalism. Such diverse themes as crowds observing the funeral of Victor Hugo (see Carnavalet, Paris) or studies of the interior of a Parisian Bank Apartment reflect aspects of French society during the Third Republic.

Beraud was born of wealthy French parents in Saint Petersburg, Russia, where his father's career as a sculptor introduced him to the arts at early age. After his father's death the family moved to Paris (1853). Beraud thus received his by education at the Lycée Bonaparte. Studious and talented, he finished his degree in law before the Franco-Prussian War. During the siege of Paris he served in the army's Garde mobile de la Seine.

It was not until after the war that Beraud decided to become a portrait artist. He entered the studio of Leon Bonnat (one of the leading painters of the Third Republic) and received training as a portraitist for the next two years. The six entries he exhibited at the 1873 Salon document his preference for portraits during the early part of his career. He entered the official Salons regularly until 1889, receiving a Third-class medal in 1882 and a second-class medal 1883. The Late 1870s, however, show a change in Beraud’s focus, for he began recording scenes from Les Halles (1879 Salon) or the streets Montmartre (1880 Salon). During the mid-1880s he completed two paintings that reveal social consciousness a quality inherent in some aspects of Naturalist movement. Les Fous (1885 Salon) and La Salle des filles au depot (1886 Salon) are compositions that graphically convey the personality of his figures as well as his adeptness at capturing anecdotal gestures. His depiction of a young prostitute yawning or another tying her shoe demonstrates his indebtedness to similar works by Degas.

Tiring of the academic Salon, Beraud became an enthusiastic founding member of the Salon of the Societe Nationale des Beaux-Arts, serving as vice-president, and exhibiting at their annual Salons from 1890 until 1929. During the 1890s Beraud modified his Naturalist style to create religious compositions in a contemporary mode.1 The symbolic implications of these canvases, which he exhibited in 1892 and 1894, evoked considerable discussion among critics: although his context was historic, he depicted his subjects in contemporary dress. These compositions were not his most successful, but they nonetheless document his continued participation in the Naturalist circle. His frequent choice of worldly events and public personalities reflects a similar "modernity" because of his ability to capture the personality of his models and to record their active participation.

In addition, Beraud was highly successful at creating an image of the fashionable Parisian woman of the 1890s. These compositions convey a stereotype of femininity, but the French and Russian aristocracies who were his clients were more than satisfied with his superficial representations of reality. Although he received the Legion d'honneur in 1887 and a gold medal at the Paris Fair in 1889, Beraud's later work was less serious than the Naturalist themes that he completed during his middle years. After his death, the Societe' Nationale des Beaux-Arts honored his work with a retrospective exhibition at the 1936 Salon; a second exhibition was also held that year at the Musee Carnavalet, Paris.

1. Like James Tissot whose later works were religious in theme, Beraud may have reflected the end-of-the-century attitude of disinterest and doubt toward religion. These paintings created a stir because Beraud used realistic portraits of contemporary figures dressed in clothing typical of the nineteenth century.

2. See Jean Beraud peintre de la vie parisienne, Musee Carnavalet, November 1936-January 1937. The same museum held a similar exhibition in 1978/79; see Un Témoin de la Belle Epoque Jean Beraud (1849-1935), Collections du Musee Carnavalet, 5 Jun-29 July 1979. Information on Beraud's life and career remains sparse, since no descendants have been located.