|
Search over 100 encyclopedias and dictionaries: |
Research categories | Follow us on Twitter |
Research categories
View all topics in the newsView all reference sources at Encyclopedia.com |
|||
Bérard, Christian
Bérard, Christian (1902–1949). French designer, painter, and draughtsman. He was born in Paris and studied at the Académie Ranson (under Vuillard) and the Académie Julian. With Berman and Tchelitchew he was the leading representative of Neo-Romanticism in French painting, but his career was devoted mainly to design, particularly for the theatre and also for the cinema and the fashion world. His first notable success was the design of the ballet Les Elves (1924) for Michel Fokine, and subsequently he worked for many other leading choreographers. He also had a fruitful relation with Jean Cocteau, whom he met in 1926 and whose portrait he painted in 1928 (MOMA, New York). Bérard made designs for several of his plays and three of his films, most famously Beauty and the Beast (1946), which was perfectly suited to his gift for fantasy and ‘may be considered in some respects almost as much the achievement of Bérard as of Cocteau’ (Oxford Companion to Film, 1976). His other work included fashion drawings in such magazines as Harper's Bazaar and Vogue. ‘Bérard, a ubiquitous personality in the theatre world, was a short dishevelled man with an unruly beard whose appearance belied the stunning beauty of his stage designs’ (Tom Mikotowicz in The Cambridge Guide to World Theatre, 1988).
|
|
|
Cite this article
IAN CHILVERS. "Bérard, Christian." A Dictionary of Twentieth-Century Art. 1999. Encyclopedia.com. 28 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. IAN CHILVERS. "Bérard, Christian." A Dictionary of Twentieth-Century Art. 1999. Encyclopedia.com. (May 28, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O5-BrardChristian.html IAN CHILVERS. "Bérard, Christian." A Dictionary of Twentieth-Century Art. 1999. Retrieved May 28, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O5-BrardChristian.html |
|
Bérard, Christian
Bérard, Christian (1902–49), French artist and theatre designer whose work, which was characterized by a wonderful feeling for the visual aspects of the theatre and great skill in the use of colour, had a great influence on European stage design. After designing for most of the great choreographers of his time, he began in 1934 a fruitful collaboration with Jouvet, starting with Cocteau's La Machine infernale and continuing through such important and diverse productions as Beaumarchais's Le Mariage de Figaro (1939), Giraudoux's La Folle de Chaillot (1945), Genet's Les Bonnes, and Molière's Don Juan (both 1947). He also designed a number of productions for other theatres, including the Comédie-Française, and, for Barrault's company at the Marigny, Molière's Amphitryon (1946) and Les Fourberies de Scapin (1949). He died while supervising the lighting of this last play on the night before its production.
|
|
|
Cite this article
PHYLLIS HARTNOLL and PETER FOUND. "Bérard, Christian." The Concise Oxford Companion to the Theatre. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. 28 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. PHYLLIS HARTNOLL and PETER FOUND. "Bérard, Christian." The Concise Oxford Companion to the Theatre. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. (May 28, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O79-BrardChristian.html PHYLLIS HARTNOLL and PETER FOUND. "Bérard, Christian." The Concise Oxford Companion to the Theatre. 1996. Retrieved May 28, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O79-BrardChristian.html |
|
Bérard, Christian
Bérard, Christian (b Paris, 20 Aug. 1902; d Paris, 12 Feb. 1949). French designer, painter, and draughtsman. With Berman and Tchelitchew he was the leading representative of Neo-Romanticism in French painting, but his career was devoted mainly to design, particularly for the theatre and also for the cinema and the fashion world. He had a particularly fruitful relationship with Jean Cocteau, whom he met in 1926 and whose portrait he painted in 1928 (MoMA, New York). Bérard made designs for several of his plays and three of his films, most famously Beauty and the Beast (1946), which was perfectly suited to his gift for fantasy and ‘may be considered in some respects almost as much the achievement of Bérard as of Cocteau’ (The Oxford Companion to Film, 1976). His other work included fashion drawings in such magazines as Harper's Bazaar and Vogue.
|
|
|
Cite this article
IAN CHILVERS. "Bérard, Christian." The Oxford Dictionary of Art. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. 28 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. IAN CHILVERS. "Bérard, Christian." The Oxford Dictionary of Art. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. (May 28, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O2-BrardChristian.html IAN CHILVERS. "Bérard, Christian." The Oxford Dictionary of Art. 2004. Retrieved May 28, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O2-BrardChristian.html |
|
Search over 100 encyclopedias and dictionaries:
HighBeam™ Research, Inc. © Copyright 2012. All rights reserved.
The Encyclopedia.com advertising network includes:
