Delivery Man

Delivery Man, recorded as dating to 1935, was painted late in Jean Béraud's career when the artist was in his mid-eighties. Béraud had been born in 1849 and continued working into extreme old age, though his most celebrated period stretched from the 1870s through the early 1900s. A delivery man — a working-class figure engaged in the practical circulation of goods through Paris's streets — fits squarely within his lifelong interest in all the social strata and functional roles that animated the city. Such figures appeared frequently in his street scenes as supporting characters; a painting devoted to a delivery man as its central subject would be an unusual instance of his focusing prolonged attention on the working Parisian who normally inhabited the background of his social panoramas.

Oil on panel in Béraud's characteristically smooth, figurally precise style. The compact panel format suits a single-figure subject and reflects his continued use of panel supports for smaller-scale and more intimate compositions throughout his career. Late-career Béraud shows slightly looser handling in background areas while maintaining precision in the central figure.