69. Portrait of Eunice Gardiner [1964]

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69. Portrait of Eunice Gardiner [1964]

Dimitrie Berea

1908, Bacău - 1975, Paris

Estimate:

EUR 2.000 - 3.500

Not sold

References

Catalogue of the exhibition "Berea", January 24 – February 14, 1943, Kretzulescu Galleries, Bucharest.

oil on canvas, 92.5 x 64 cm, signed and dated bottom right, in red, "Berea, (19)64"

Research information

The work is reproduced in the monograph "Dimitrie Berea", Mihai SÄndulescu, Bucharest, Official Gazette Publishing House, 2021, on page 211.

The artistic journey of Dimitrie Berea will follow, initially, like many of his contemporary artists, the open path of Paris. The painter will establish, finally, across the ocean in the United States of America. He is a successful drawer and colourist. In the initial phase of his creation, at Bucharest, he practices his portraitist qualities and researches at length the psychology of the human being. The constant of his work - the invasion of colour - will follow him throughout his artistic career. The exile outside the borders of the country will be transcribed in the friendships with famous personalities of the time: Dali, Picasso, Brâncuși, Derain and Dufy. In Paris, Monte Carlo or Nisa, Dimitrie Berea exhibits with Bonnard, Matisse or Picasso. In the 1960s, the artist accepts numerous orders from artistic personalities and famous figures of the period. He becomes one of the official painters of Hollywood celebrities, so he will paint individuals such as: Salomé Murat, Dali, actresses Luise Rainer, Merle Oberon, Katharine Hepburn or Nancy Reagan. He works in Paris, New York and San Francisco, where he will have the residence-workshops. His works are in important museums from Rome, Madrid, London, Paris, New York, San Francisco or Vatican. Among the famous collections which included works signed by Berea, we recall: Winston Churchill, The Duke and Duchess of Winsdor, Henry Ford II, Salvador Dali or Queen Elizabeth II of England. In the present work, the artist turns his attention to the transposition on canvas of Eunice Gardiner. Originally from London, she debuted as a model for Christian Dior in Paris. She also posed for Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar or Junior Bazaar. She was founding member of Ford Modelling Agency and studied art and fashion at Torino, in Italy. In 1967, Eunice Gardiner also served as a muse for Dali, who recorded the presence of the beautiful model in his own particular way in a work with surrealist overtones.

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