When it comes to fashion illustration in the 1930s, most people first think of the fantastic images created in fashion magazines by famous artists such as Salvador Dali, Pierre Mourgue, and Georges Lepape.

Christian Berard, who was active in illustration and art at the same time, is rarely mentioned.

Perhaps it is because he is too diverse to be pigeonholed into any one fixed area, but when we look back at the classic fashion images in Vogue's historical archives, Berard's figure is everywhere.

At the time of the "Christian Berard: On the occasion of the opening of the Excentrique Bebe exhibition, let's get to know the name that should not be ignored by the fashion circle - Christian Berard.

Born in Paris in 1902, Berard fell in love with painting at an early age under the influence of his father, an architect, and at the age of 18 enrolled at the Academie Ranson, where he studied with Impressionist master Edouard Vuillard and symbolist painter Maurice Denis.

From 1935 to 1949, Christian Berard worked as a contributing illustrator for Vogue, presenting a number of beautiful illustrations, including covers and interior pages.

Different from the realistic restoration of the clothing itself in traditional fashion illustrations, Berard uses precise and delicate brushstrokes to outline the expression of the characters and the level of the fabric in a few strokes, while leaving readers full imagination space.

In the 1930s and 1940s, Works by Jeanne Lanvin, Madeleine Vionnet, Nina Ricci, Gabrielle Chanel, Elsa Schiaparelli and Christian Dior, among others, depict fashion at its most glamorous through Berard.

Although Berard's name is not often mentioned today, we can always see his illustrations and creative style on the runway of modern fashion design.

From Givenchy's Autumn/Winter 1987 Haute couture collection to John Galliano's 60th anniversary haute couture show for Dior, the essence of the art symbolized by Berard has always been present.

Berard can be found in numerous fashion archives and biographical sources. Berard, who has a beard, looks shapeless and has a slightly rounded figure, is affectionately called "Bebe" by his friends in the fashion world.

Christian Dior said it "opened a new world for itself."

Elsa Schiaparelli once said: "To be appreciated and admired by Bebe, even to become a friend, is a great recognition among the social circles and intellectuals of Paris."

Yves Saint Laurent saw it as the enlightenment of fashion: "He knew how to create characters, he knew how to construct clothes, to capture the essence of contour and time, he reinvented clothes."

In 1925, Berard, who exhibited his paintings in a gallery for the first time, met Mr. Christian Dior, who was not yet a fashion designer at that time, and the two became friends.

Discerning Mr. Dior also collected many of his paintings in the follow-up.

After the success of Mr. Dior's New Look, Berard also created a fashion illustration of a model standing outside Dior's Avenue Montaigne store, based on the shape of a Bar Jacket, to applaud the fashion master's masterpiece.

Dior's first store in the painting, its exquisite and luxurious layout is also partly due to Berard.

At his suggestion, Ruy prints were used on the walls and furniture of the store, "It was Bebe who suggested that we hang Ruy prints in the store and put hat boxes with the name of the store on all sides, including the top of the closet and in every corner. Sudden Eye seemed chaotic, but he gave life."

Mr. Dior wrote in his memoirs. Today, the Ruy print has become one of Dior's most distinctive symbols.

Berard also decorated Elsa Schiaparelli's home, and the three-fold screen in the living room was painted by him.In addition, Schiaparelli also uses his illustrations as a source of inspiration in the haute couture fashion, which has become a classic of the brand that has been constantly re-interpreted in the future.

In addition to the art of illustration, Berard's artistic talents extend to areas such as stage design and costume making.He designed costumes for four ballet companies, including Ballets Russes and Ballets Champs-Elysees, and in 1930 he collaborated with playwright Jean Cocteau. The most famous is the costume design for Beauty and the Beast, which was released in 1946.

At the same time, at the invitation of interior designer Jean-Michel Frank, Berard was also involved in the design of Guerain's French headquarters office, and the trompe-l 'oeide-inspired wall and set design now look pioneering and bold.

In the face of the slump in the traditional couture industry after the Second World War, Berard also took on the set design of the Theatre de la Mode haute couture doll exhibition, led by Nina Ricci's son Robert and joined by 53 fashion designers.

In some ways, Berard seemed born for the stage, and even his death was legendary.

The event, held at Monaco's National Museum of the New Era, was titled "Christian Berard: In Excentrique Bebe, curator Celia Bernasconi reasseses artists who have been marginalized in traditional official art history, based on the concept of "eccentric modernism," as defined by American scholar Tirza True Latimer.

This exhibition is the culmination of Bernasconi's study of Berard's case.

More than 300 paintings, drawings, photographs and interiors are displayed in three floors of exhibition space, tracing Berard's fruitful collaboration during his short life and paying tribute to his pioneering integration of painting, decoration and costume design.

The first floor is an interior design theme, recreating the trompe l 'oeil decoration designed by Berard and Jean-Michel Frank for Guerlain, but also emphasizing the unique element of the "bed" in Berard's creation - the studio is also a bedroom, and he is used to working late into the night, often photographed collapsing on the bed after work.

On the second floor, the theme is related to fashion, showing his contribution to the fashion field. It not only showcases wonderful illustrations, but also recreates the wonderful scenes of the Theatre de la Mode.Artist Nick Mauss has combined five of the fashion models exhibited in 1945 with the set styles designed by Berard at the time, bringing people back to the era that awakened the spirit of couture.

The third floor has a Mediterranean theme, which is most in harmony with the style of the exhibition venue, Villa Paloma itself. The blue sky and sea outside the window trace Berard's time working with his friend Kochno for the Ballet de Monte Carlo.In Berard's works, the sea is a substitute for Western and European civilization, and he combines this symbolic metaphor with art history in his paintings, showing the romantic cultural tendency of classicism.

In Berard's utopian art world, there seem to be no rules and boundaries, which makes it difficult for him to be accepted and recognized in a certain field after his death.

After more than half a century, when we look back at his versatile creation, this free and unbounded swing is encouraged and respected in our era, and this is also the reason why he deserves to be recognized and understood again.