71 - SEREBRIAKOFF, Alexandre (1907–1995)

SEREBRIAKOFF, Alexandre (1907–1995) Interior with Green Wood paneling, 1946. Watercolor, gouache, and ink on paper. Inscribed “Paris, 30 rue Montpensier” in the lower left corner, signed and dated 1946 in the lower right corner. View: 33 x 43 cm (frame: 44 x 55.5 cm) Note: As a collaborator with interior designers and aesthetes such as Christian Bérard, Emilio Terry, and Charles de Beistegui, Alexandre Serebriakoff developed a unique body of work at the intersection of painting, architecture, and the decorative arts. His famous interior portraits, executed in watercolor, gouache, and ink, capture the atmosphere of the grand Parisian residences of the mid-20th century, some of whose interiors have since disappeared. This view of an interior with green wood paneling, signed and dated 1946, bears the same Parisian address—30 rue Montpensier—as the previous composition. The two works, which are similar in size and were created in the same year, thus appear to document different spaces within the same decorative ensemble, offering a particularly interesting insight into the postwar Parisian lifestyle and interior design.