Le Mont-de-Piété (The Pawn Shop) Or Chez Ma Tante (Sold)

Medium: Oil On Panel
Size: 46 x 37 cm (19.17 x 15.42 in)
Signed: Signed lower right: Jean Béraud

Provenance: Provenance: Sale, Paris, Private Collection, 1996.

Jean Béraud was born in Russia where his French parents were living at the time, but moved back with them to France to began his studies at the Lycee Bonaparte – ending them abruptly, to take part in the defense of Paris in 1870. When he returned to artistic training, it was at the atelier of Bonnat.

Béraud first exhibited at the Salon in 1873; he was awarded a third-class, and later, second-class medal during his early years exhibiting. The artist won gold medals at both the Universal Exhibition and the Salon of the Artistes Français of 1889. A founding member of the Societé Nationale des Beaux Arts, Béraud exhibited with the group from 1910 to 1929, at one point serving as the body’s Vice-President. He was recognized in 1887 by being named a Chevalier de la Legion d’Honneur and later received the title of Officier of the order.

Béraud’s works drew on images from modern life for inspiration, though many of his canvases also depicted religious scenes. These canvases especially were seen as bridging a long history of French painting and modern painting, which itself mirrored the difference between old France and Béraud’s contemporary time of change.

This painting shows a gentleman having just collected some cash from the Credit Municipal, behind him we see a young woman waiting her turn. It is typical of the everyday scenes that Béraud made his specialty. Pawn shops, which had been a traditional means of raising short-term cash, had been banned in 1797 under the Directory (the government that succeeded the first republic). The need for such institutions, however, was not removed, and so the government eventually established state owned and managed institutions to fulfill the same need, the Crédit Municipal. Nonetheless, the old pre-revolutionary name, ma tante (my aunt) still stuck, and everyone understood when someone went to borrow some money from their aunt.