In an earlier post on Barbier’s Fêtes galantes, I noted that virtuoso violinist Ginette Neveu (11 August 1919 – 28 October 1949) was a victim of the Air France Lockheed Constellation crash of 28 October 1949, in the Azores. The crash also claimed the life of 68 year-old illustrator and designer Bernard Boutet de Monvel, of the Monvel dynasty, as well as that of 33 year-old world champion boxer Marcel Cerdan, Édith Piaf‘s lover. Also killed on the island of São Miguel was classical pianist Jean Neveu, Ginette’s brother and accompanist. The Neveu family must have been devastated.
Ginette: a child prodigy
Ginette Neveu was 7 when she started giving public performances. By that age, she had mastered Mendelssohn’s E minor Concerto (Op. 64). In 1935, shortly after she turned 16, Ginette’s teacher entered her in the Wieniawsky Competition in Warsaw and she won over David Oistrakh (30 September 1908 – 24 October 1974) who was then 27 and an acclaimed violinist. It is difficult to say that Mr. Oistrakh lost to Ginette Neveu. There were 180 contestants and he came second. But more importantly Ginette was a child prodigy, so it is as though she belonged to a different category.
It does not happen very often, only a few times in a century, and sometimes in a millennium, but, occasionally, an exceptionally gifted individual is born who cannot be surpassed in his or her category and in his days. Only Beethoven could compose the Ninth Symphony and no one has equalled Mozart’s Requiem, K (Köchel) 626.
Not that we are about to run out of talents. Over the years, there have been hundreds of great composers, artists, performers, comedians, scientists, writers, architects, athletes, inventors, and very good human beings. Yet certain individuals are unlikely to be surpassed. Steve Jobs was one such individual, and so was Ginette Neveu.
It seems, however, that the greater the talent, the more fragile and vulnerable the writer, the composer, the performer, the artist, the scientist and my “good” human being… Fate took Ginette Neveu away from us at a very early age and, on 11 August 2014, we lost Robin Williams. In his category and in his days, I don’t think Mr. Williams could be surpassed, no more than Charlie Chaplin, in his category and in his days. Moreover, Robin Williams was a good human being. He will be missed.
At any rate, I have inserted, once again, Ginette Neveu’s interpretation of Maurice Ravel‘s Tzigane. It is remarkable.
My kindest regards to all of you.
P. S. I am trying to configure my webpage. I have been posting articles for three years and have yet to learn how to insert a picture in my sidebar. In other words, I am not a very gifted individual.
Cover by George Barbier (Photo credit: Wikimedia.org, all)
Pierrot and Harlequin by George Barbier
Art Deco
Jean-Gaspard Deburau
Charles Deburau (Jean-Gaspard’s son)
Jean-Louis Barrault
Pantomine and Mine
Les Enfants du Paradis
A few weeks ago, I posted an article on “Leo Rauth’s fin de siècle Pierrot.” Leo Rauth died too young and under tragic circumstances. However, although Rauth‘s artwork predates George Barbier‘s (1882–1932), who is considered an Art Deco artist, both artists depicted commedia dell’arte stock characters: Pedrolino, or Pierrot formerly known as Gilles, and Harlequin (Arlecchino and Arlequin) and did so in “galant” fashion following in the footsteps of Jean-Antoine Watteau (10 October 1684 – 18 July 1721).
Pierrot is a major figure in France. He appears in the art of Antoine Watteau, a student of Claude Gillot (both eighteenth-century artists, middle and late). Pierrot then grows into Jean-Gaspard Deburau‘s Battiste, a role Charles Deburau, Jean-Gaspard’s son, inherited. Pierrot had entered the world of pantomime and mime.
George Barbier: illustrator
japonisme
Printmaking
“pochoirs” (stenciling)
engravings
However, Leo Rauth differs from George Barbier. First, Barbier is considered an Art Deco artist. Second, he was a fashion illustrator at a time when haute couture was developing rapidly and the publishing industry sensed an opportunity it quickly seized. Moreover, japonisme, woodblock printing, would prove the technique of artists who needed copies of their work: posters, illustrations. Printmaking was not new to the western world. François Chauveau engraved the Carte de Tendre.
As you know, the fine arts diversified in the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century due, to a large extent, to japonisme. Japanese prints flooded Europe, France and England particularly. They were plentiful and therefore an inexpensive yet beautiful artwork. Illustrators needed such a tool.
Barbier, used pochoirs (stenciling)[I]that enabled him to make replicas of his designs, but many artists chose various forms of engraving. They made etchings (on copper usually), woodcuts (wood), linocuts (linoleum) or some other material.
Engraving is referred to as an intaglio technique. For instance, etchers trace their drawing into a “ground” applied to metal, they use acid to bite into the drawing. They then insert ink that flows into the engraved (etched) parts of the metal and, when pressed onto paper, only the engraved or etched parts of the pieces of metal, the image, will show on the paper. Artists and designers can also make reproductions of their work using lithography, silkscreens (stenciling) and pochoirs (also stenciling).
Chansons de France pour les petits enfants Maurice B. de Monvel
The Boutet de Monvel Dynasty
Maurice Boutet de Monvel
his son: Bernard Boutet de Monvel
his nephews: George Barbier and Pierre Brissaud
Barbier was also a first cousin to, Bernard Boutet de Monvel, Maurice’s son as well as a first cousin to Maurice’s other nephew, Pierre Brissaud. All three were occasional designers and/or illustrators, or exclusively illustrators and designers.
Barbier also designed theatre and ballet costumes. In fact, he helped Erté, Romain de Tirtoff (23 November 1892 – 21 April 1990) design sets and costumes for the Folies Bergère. In French “R” is pronounced er and “T,” té = Erté. In fact, Barbier led a group nicknamed “The Knights of the Bracelet,” by Vogue.
The Plane Crash: 28 October 1949
Bernard was also an interior designer, a portraitist, and the last of the Paris dandies, a work of art in himself. He died as he lived, conspicuously. Bernard B. de Monvel was killed in the Air France Lockheed Constellation crash of 28 October 1949, in the Azores. Among the forty-eight victims were world-champion boxer Marcel Cerdan (aged 33), Edith Piaf‘s lover, and virtuoso violinist Ginette Neveu (aged 30). Benard B. de Monvel was 68.
Conclusion
As I was going through my neglected email, I found an advertisement for this pochoir.
“Original pochoir by Bagge Huguet from La Gazette du Bon Ton, a leading Art Deco revue in Paris in the 1920s, showcasing the latest fashion and design. The Art Deco period was a highpoint in French art. Leading artists included Georges Lepape, Georges [sic] Barbier, Edouard Garcia Benito, Erté, and others.”
But let us look at Barbier’s reading of Fêtes galantes. Les Années folles, or the Golden Twenties, were a reborn fête galante,à la Fitzgerald’s Great Gatsby (1925) that dictated a degree of resemblance between Rauth and Barbier. However, people danced the Charleston, not the sensual tango a product of the 1890s.
