Georges BILLAUDOT. Monkey and birds. Two oils on canvas. (Dirt, wear.) Height 241 cm ; Width : 69 cm. Lots 86, 87, 88 and 89 are sold in pairs with the option to combine them. Georges Billaudot painted this set of eight canvases for the dining room of the private mansion he had built between 1930 and 1934 at Villa Montmorency in Paris. He benefited from the advice of Adrien Karbowsky, to whom he entrusted the decoration of his new home. Karbowsky specially designed major works in various areas of the decorative arts, including frescoes, upholstery and furniture (see Le Goût français, Christie's, 18 April 2019, Paris). The painter-decorator Adrien Karbowsky (1855-1945) already had a brilliant career as a decorator behind him: Hôtel Lutetia, Villa Kérylos, Château de Montaigu... In 1902, he decorated Jacques Doucet's famous private mansion on rue Spontini, a showcase for his collection (see Doucet et Camondo: une passion pour le XVIIIe siècle, Musée Nissim de Camando exhibition, 2023). In this way, our paintings are an integral part of the history of Parisian décor in the first half of the 20th century. This decorative project nevertheless presents a major singularity: the artist is both his own commissioner and his own executor. This decorative cycle reveals the triple influence of the pointillism characteristic of Georges Billaudot's plein air painting, but also of the great Nabis decors (see Les Nabis et le décor, Musée du Luxembourg exhibition, 2019) and late Japonism. In 1911, he spent several months in China and Japan, from where he returned deeply imbued with Asian art. The cut-outs visible on several of the compositions suggest that the canvases were originally part of a specially produced scrolled décor, which has now disappeared. In 1952, the reception rooms of the town house were completely redesigned and redecorated by Maison Jansen. As photographs show, our paintings were placed in the main staircase, where they remained until the house was sold by the artist's daughter in 1996. Georges Billaudot was born in Paris in 1868. An officer instructor at the École spéciale de Saint-Cyr, he gave up his military career after his marriage in 1902 to devote himself fully to his art. His colourful palette and vibrant brushstrokes bear witness to the influence of post-impressionism and the pointillism of Georges SEURAT (1859-1891). A self-taught artist, he painted exclusively "from the motif". In Paris, his favourite subjects were the Tuileries Gardens and the banks of the Seine. He acquired the Château de Chailloué in the Orne department, which he depicted extensively. An outdoor painter, he set up his easel wherever he went on holiday: the Côte d'Azur, Normandy, Savoy, Périgord... In 1910 and 1911, he and his wife travelled for several months to the Orient and Asia, taking in India, Indochina and China as far as Japan. Japanese prints and screens made a deep impression on him. Between the wars, he had a private mansion built in the 16th arrondissement of Paris. The interior design was entrusted to the painter-decorator Adrien KARBOWSKY (1855-1945), with whom he became friends and whose works he collected. At the same time, KARBOWSKY introduced him to the technique of decorative painting. Georges Billaudot produced a series of large decorative canvases for the dining room. He died in Paris in 1951. A deliberately discreet personality, Georges Billaudot did not seek to exhibit or promote his work. To this day, his confidential work remains within the circle of his descendants.