Jean Béraud

Sale: Hôtel Drouot, Paris, April 28, 1947, lot 3
Gordon Bennett, Monte Carlo
Jacques Kugel, Paris (and sold, his sale, La Belle Époque: Twenty-Six Paintings of Parisian Life by Jean Béraud, Sotheby Parke Bernet, New York, January 25, 1980, lot 6, illustrated)
Sale: Sotheby's, New York, February 24, 1987, lot 89, illustrated
Thomas Gibson Fine Art Ltd, London
Acquired from the above

London, Wildenstein, Marcel Proust and his Time, 1871-1922, 1955, no. 204
Paris, Musée Jacquemart-André, Marcel Proust et son temps, 1971, no. 3J

Patrick Offenstadt, Jean Béraud, 1849-1935, The Belle Époque: A Dream of Times Gone By, catalogue raisonné, Cologne, 1999, p. 208, no. 250, illustrated

This painting is on a stable panel and exhibits minor surface dirt and yellowed varnish. Minor craquelure is limited to the darkest pigments, and there is frame abrasion around the perimeter. Under UV, varnish fluoresces green, and old re-touches faintly fluoresce in isolated spots of the background and in the figure of the standing gentleman.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

In the present work, well dressed gentlemen and ladies exit box twenty-six, one of the first tier of Paris' famous Opéra Garnier. Béraud accurately includes a bust of Corneille placed by the box's entrance (Offenstadt, p. 208).