A Game of Billiards

Bérnard Jean was born with his twin sister in St Petersburg on January 12, 1849 of French parents. His father was a sculptor and worked on the construction site of the cathedral of Saint Isaac in St Petersburg. When his father died in 1853, they returned to Paris. 

Bérnard Jean was a painter of genre scenes, figures, interiors, street and town views and portraits. He was also a good pastellist, watercolours and sketcher. He was mainly inspired by modern life.

Béraud first studied at the Lycée Bonaparte with the intention of becoming a lawyer. During the Franco-Prussian War he changed his mind and enrolled at the Paris École des Beaux-Arts under the teaching of the master teacher and artist Bonnat Léon. In 1872 he began to exhibit his work at the Paris Salon.

His paining Le Retour de l’enterrement brought him success and he became one of the most important painters of Parisian life during the Belle Époque. He is considered as one of the finest artists to have depicted anecdotal subjects from Parisian life in the yers. His works depict the middle classes, scenes of daily life, as well as small trades and the atmosphere of cafés.

He was one of the founders Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts and exhibited from 1910 to 1929. Béraud received the bronze medal at the Salon des Artistes Français in 1882, the silver medal in 1883 and the gold medal in 1889.

He died on October 4, 1935 in Paris. Today his paintings can be found in private and public collections worldwide, including at the Museum Liège, Lille, Tours and Troyes.