André-Charles Caron (French, 20th century)

after Paul Colin (French, 1892-1985)

Au Bal Nègre, 1927

Joséphine Baker performing the Charleston

Original stone lithograph in colors archivally linen backed

Printed by M. Ducelier, Imp. Paris, circa 1970

Sheet dimensions: 30.25 x 25.125 in.

Frame dimensions: 36.75 x 31.625 in.

Exquisitely custom framed by Brentano’s in a 3.25” wide deeply carved wood frame with a warm ebonized stain.  Protected with museum anti-reflection, uv-filtering glass.

This vintage Au Bal Nègre poster is among the most famous posters of the 1920s. It was created to promote a 12 February 1927 performance by Josephine Baker and her dance partner, Joe Alex. Designed by French artist Andrés Charles Caron, the poster shows Baker mid-performance, wearing only a short green grass skirt as she moves energetically across a chequerboard stage backdrop. In the lower right corner, Joe Alex is shown smiling broadly as he watches her dance.

Bal Nègre was a highly popular West Indian dance, cabaret, and jazz club in Paris during the Roaring Twenties. Its most famous performer was Josephine Baker, the American-born dancer and singer. In 1925, during France’s fascination with American jazz and the exotic, Baker travelled to Paris to appear in La Revue Nègre at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées. Her performance of the Danse Sauvage, wearing only a feather skirt, made an immediate impact on French audiences. She quickly became one of Europe’s most celebrated and highest-paid performers of the decade.