Carriages On The Champs-Élysées

Medium: Oil On Canvas
Size: 49 x 44 cm (19.3 x 17.3 in)
Signed: Signed lower left: Jean Béraud

Provenance: Private Collection, USA

Literature: Jean Béraud, La Belle Époque, Une Époque Rêvée, by Patrick Offenstadt, Köln, 1999, p. 143, no. 133.

Our painting shows Paris’s greatest promenade, a subject Béraud chose for a series in his oeuvre; this is the only occasion, however, when the artist shows the right side of the Champs-Élysées looking towards the Arc de Triomphe (seen here from just above the Rond-Point).

The centre foreground is dominated by an exquisitely groomed white Standard Poodle; a pretty young woman in brown jacket and dress stands on the pavement, her fashionable bustle prominently displayed, chatting to her friend driving the fine brougham that has pulled over to the side. An elegant gentleman standing closer to the view and looking across the avenue may be waiting to cross; there is no indication as to whether the poodle is his, or is perhaps waiting for its owner’s carriage to proceed. A liveried groom stands in front of the horse while his mistress exchanges pleasantries, he will mount the carriage behind her and take it from her when she dismounts.

The traffic descending the avenue is heavy; a public cabriolet and large open landau with two liveried attendants seem to lead the parade of public and private carriages on their way towards the Place de la Concorde; none, however, can be seen traveling towards the Étoile at the top of the avenue. On the right some elegantly dressed men and women can be seen through the tress that line the Champs-Élysées on either side.