Charles Gir (French, 1883 – 1941)

Ballerinas on point

Pastel on paper

Signed ‘CH. Gir’ (lower left)

24 x 18.1/2 in. (61 x 46.8 cm.)

Charles Gir was born in Tours, France on November 1, 1883. He was a noted painter, watercolorist, pastellist, sculptor and illustrator. Gir was married to the well-known actress, Jeanne Fusier-Gir, and attended the Paris Opera every night for 17 years. He made many sketches of dancers and caricatures, and at the end of his wife’s performance used to deliver them to the newspapers he worked for. He knew Raoul Dufy, Frances Carco and Jehan Rictus. He sculpted a bronze statue of Don Quixote that now stands near the Prefecture of Cergy-Pontoise; and he also illustrated several books, including Edmond Rostand’s Chantecler, but he was known mainly for his theatrical posters. Gir exhibited at the Salon des Artistes Français, Paris. In 1983 the Musée Pissarro in Pontoise held an exhibition of his work entitled Charles Gir et le monde du théâtre.