Vouwwaaier met een voorstelling naar het schilderij 'Le prétendu' van Prosper-Etienne Berne-Bellecour after 1876

This is a fan featuring a scene inspired by Prosper-Etienne Berne-Bellecour's painting 'Le prétendu', made by Auguste Lauronce. The fan displays a visual structure of contrasting elements; the narrative scene above, with its soft coloration, sharply contrasts with the fan’s rigid ribs, and the geometric patterns etched below. The upper scene is characterized by its informal composition, depicting a group of figures in what appears to be a park setting. This vignette introduces a narrative element, hinting at social interactions. The overall structure and the interplay of realism and pattern act as semiotic markers, pointing to the fan's dual existence as both a functional object and a piece of art. The lower part of the fan is structured by formal rigidity, while the upper scene offers a pictorial narrative. It does not simply mirror the original painting, but transforms its essence through the medium of the fan. Here, art challenges fixed meanings and invites us to reconsider the boundaries between decoration and representation, between structure and fluidity.