Book Review: Christian Bérard

This groundbreaking monograph examines one of the most versatile artists of the 20th century. Christian Bérard worked freely in many artistic circles and fields, as a painter, set designer for theatre and film, designer of costumes, fashion and interiors, masterful draftsman and colourist. His iconic drawings epitomised the Paris fashion world and graced the covers of Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar and Women’s Wear Daily in the 1920s and 1930s.

Tracing his colourful life through his encounters and artistic partnerships with the greatest creatives of his time – Jean-Michel Frank, Christian Dior, Gabrielle Chanel, Jean Cocteau and others – this book positions Bérard in his rightful place in the centre of the Parisian art world of the 1930s and 1940s. It includes more than 200 of his paintings, drawings, correspondence, and interiors, along with portraits of Bérard by Cartier Bresson, Horst and Schall.

Christian Bérard: Eccentric Modernist
Célia Bernasconi, Pierre Passebon and others
£55
Flammarion

From France Today magazine