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Christian Berard
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Christian Berard (1902-1949) AKA Bébé was a French artist, fashion illustrator, and designer.
Born in Paris in 1902, Berard studied at the Lycée Janson de Sailly as a child. In 1920, he entered the Academie Ranson, where his style was influenced Edouard Vuillard and Maurice Denis. He showed his first exhibition in 1925, at the Gallery Pierre. From the start of his career he had an interest in theatrical scenery and costume designs, and played an important role in the development of theatrical design in the 1930s and 1940s. In the early '30s he worked with Jean-Michel Frank, painting screens, wood-work, and drawing projects for carpets. He also worked as a fashion designer for Coco Chanel, Elsa Schiaparelli, and Nina Ricci. Bérard and his lover Boris Kochno, who directed the Ballets Russes and was also co-founder of the Ballet des Champs Elysées, were one of the most prominent openly homosexual couples in French theater during the 1930s and '40s. Bérard's most renowned achievement was probably his lustrous, magical designs for Jean Cocteau's film Beauty and the Beast in 1946. He died, suddenly and tragically, in 1949, on the stage of the Théâtre de Marigny.