1843 -1919 · Social portrait, theater, travel and setting of the Belle Époque

Sarah Bernhardt, theatrical heroines, great sets and travel memories make Georges Clairin a spectacular painter of the fin-de-siecle social scene.

Georges Jules Victor Clairin was born in Paris in 1843. He studied at the School of Fine Arts with Isidore Pils and François-Édouard Picot, then began at the Salon of 1866. With his friend Henri Regnault, he traveled to Spain and stays in Granada; he then discovered Morocco, where architecture, light, ceremonies and costumes sustainably nourish his repertoire. These works must today be placed in the history of the European orientalist gaze, which often transforms contemporary societies into exotic spectacles. Clairin is also a great decorative painter. He designs ceilings, panels and curtains for theaters, casinos, town halls and residences, from Paris to Monte-Carlo. His sense of scale, draping and spectacular entry goes directly into his portraits. The meeting with Sarah Bernhardt is decisive. An intimate friend, sometimes a lover depending on the story, he remained his official portraitist for almost fifty years. In the large Portrait of Sarah Bernhardt exhibited at the Salon of 1876, the actress lies on a couch in a white satin dress, surrounded by bohemian and luxurious decor. The apparently nonchalant pose is rigorously constructed; the curves, iridescent tones and materials announce certain effects of Art Nouveau. Ophélie transposes theatrical culture towards Shakespeare and symbolism, while the portraits of Gabrielle Krauss or émile de Girardin expands the gallery of cultural life. Clairin also painted public events, notably Victor Hugo's funeral wake under the Arc de Triomphe, and found a more intimate territory of rocks and sea on Belle-Île. Died on the island in 1919, he left a multiple work where portrait, show, decor, illustration, travel and national memory responded to each other. The "Georges Clairin" selection notably compares Portrait of Sarah Bernhardt and Ophélie. His reading favors color.

Clairin transforms the portrait into a scene: the pose, the fabric and the decor extend the personality to the point of giving it the breadth of a public role.