229 - Claude Tabet (1924–1979)

Claude Tabet (1924–1979) The Pied Piper (descriptive title), June 1969 Watercolor, pen, and black ink Dated lower left: “June 1969”; inscribed lower right: “For Yves Guérin, with much, much friendship,” signed “Claude Tabet” Dimensions: Sheet 29.7 × 21 cm (11 ⅝ × 8 ¼ in.) — Image: nearly full sheet Condition: good condition, unframed Provenance: Yves Guérin’s guestbook, compiled between 1963 and 1992 (from a single collection; the dedications place the collector in the casino circles of the Riviera and Dinard). Description: A flute player in carnival costume—a plum-colored jacket with red braids, yellow breeches, and a wide orange hat—flanked by two small costumed figures and a flower, in a festive, naive scene in the style of the Commedia. Claude Tabet was a painter, engraver, lithographer, illustrator, and ceramicist born in Paris, trained at the Académie de la Grande Chaumière and in Souverbie’s studio, famous for his resolutely naïve festive subjects—markets, the Tuileries, carnivals, and musicians—conceived as a theatrical performance, and widely exhibited abroad. The flute player is one of his recurring subjects. Watercolor, signed and inscribed by hand.