Description:

Georges Barbier
French, 1882-1932
Untitled, 1925
Pochoir, signed and dated in graphite
Two nude women washing their hair in a wide fountain, beneath a stylized tree with seven doves. This illustration is most well-known as the cover for Les Chansons de Bilitis (The Songs of Bilitis), the sapphic poetry collection by Pierre Louys focused on the psuedotranslations of a Grecian woman, Bilitis, a courtesan of Sappho, found etched on tomb walls in Cyprus. This illustration was used for the cover of the 1922 Corrard edition, though this image is three years younger. Matted behind glass, gilt and ebonized frame, a label to verso from Artiques, San Francisco stating the title as Fountain, though no evidence exists to suggest Barbier gave any title to this work.

Impression: 8 1/4 x 6 3/4 in. (21 x 17.1 cm.), frame: 16 x 14 1/4 in. (40.6 x 36.2 cm.)

Born in Nantes, France on 16 October 1882, Barbier was 29 years old when he mounted his first exhibition in 1911 and was subsequently swept to the forefront of his profession with commissions to design theatre and ballet costumes, to illustrate books, and to produce haute couture fashion illustrations.

For the next 20 years Barbier led a group from the Ecole des Beaux Arts who were nicknamed by Vogue "The Knights of the Bracelet"—a tribute to their fashionable and flamboyant mannerisms and style of dress. Included in this élite circle were Bernard Boutet de Monvel and Pierre Brissaud (both of whom were Barbier's first cousins), Paul Iribe, Georges Lepape, and Charles Martin.

During his career Barbier also turned his hand to jewelry, glass and wallpaper design, wrote essays and many articles for the prestigious Gazette du bon ton. In the mid-1920s he worked with Erté to design sets and costumes for the Folies Bergère and in 1929 he wrote the introduction for Erté's acclaimed exhibition and achieved mainstream popularity through his regular appearances in L'Illustration magazine.

Barbier died in 1932 at the very pinnacle of his success. He is buried in Cemetery Miséricorde, Nantes.

  • Provenance: The Leonard & Audrey Adreon Collection, St. Louis, Missouri; acquired November 8th, 1992 from Artiques, San Francisco, California.
  • Dimensions: Impression: 8 1/4 x 6 3/4 in. (21 x 17.1 cm.), frame: 16 x 14 1/4 in. (40.6 x 36.2 cm.)
  • Medium: Pochoir, signed and dated in graphite

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February 14, 2023 10:00 AM CST
St. Louis, MO, US

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