125 - * Bourdet (20th century)

* Bourdet (20th century) “Ball of the Ladies of the World” Gouache on a small plywood panel. Depicts a lively scene from a popular dance, with a gendarme shooting a bandit in the foreground. Various graffiti marks are visible here and there. Naïve painting style; the subject is treated with humor and features numerous details. Signed in the lower right corner. 13.7 x 25.8 cm Some damage (including a trace of tape) and missing sections. Unframed. Additional information: A folk painting depicting a lively scene—specifically a dance—taking place on Rue de la Lappe around 1900 (a barely visible inscription beneath the painting’s title). This street, located in Paris’s 11th arrondissement, was first inhabited by Bretons and later by people from Auvergne, who opened numerous small bars that became haunts for thugs and criminals of all kinds. The first musette dances emerged as early as 1880, and by the 1930s, there were 17 such dance halls. Provenance: Jacques Henriet collection (auction March 18, 2009, lot 272).