Description: This piece is a rare painting by the legendary French musician, poet, husband (To Jane Birkin), and artist Serge Gainsbourg (born Lucien Ginsburg, 1928-1991). The work, in a distinctly naive or folk-art style, depicts a vibrant interior scene, characteristic of the domestic spaces he inhabited.

Gainsbourg studied art and painted before reluctantly pivoting to music, considering painting his "only love". As a result, authentic oil paintings by him are exceedingly rare, with only a few believed to be in circulation. One of his known paintings, Children in the square, sold for over $100,000 at auction.

This work captures his personal aesthetic, with bold colors and intricate patterns filling the flattened perspective of the room. The inclusion of a red armchair and decorative elements reflects his unique eye for design, elements also noted in the description of his famous home at 5 bis rue de Verneuil, which he filled with objects.

About the artist: Born in Paris, France, Gainsbourg was a singer-songwriter, musician, poet, actor, director and artist.  He was the son of Russian Jewish emigrants, Joseph Ginsburg ( December 1898 in Kharkov, Ukraine - April 22 1971) and Olga née Bessman (1894- March 16 - 1985). His parents were Russian Jews who fled to France following the events of the 1917 Bolshevik uprising.

After studying art and teaching, he turned to painting before working as a bar pianist on the local cabaret circuit.

Born Lucien Ginsburg, he changed his first name to Serge, feeling that this was representative of his Russian background. He chose Gainsbourg as his last name in homage to the English painter, Thomas Gainsborough, whom he admired.

Gainsbourg's childhood was profoundly affected by the occupation of France by Nazi Germany. The identifying (Yellow Star) Jews were mandated to wear became a symbol, which haunted Gainsbourg and which in later years he was able to transmute into creative inspiration.

During the Nazi occupation of World War II, the Jewish Ginsburg family was able to make their  way from Paris to Limoges, traveling under false papers. At war's end, Gainsbourg obtained work teaching music and drawing in a school outside of Paris, in Mesnil-Le-Roi.

Serge was also married to Jane Birkin, famous model as well as creator of the iconic "Birkin bag". 

Medium: gouache on paper

Dimensions: H:37in W:44in

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