Barbier ambulant, Espagne

In addition to his art, Vibert had a long and active association with the stage and all aspects of theatrical life in Paris. His wife was an actress in the Comédie française, and the influence of the theatre upon his painting is evident throughout his oeuvre and the narrative is always essential to the artistic. The critic Stranahan wrote, 'There is much 'story' in all of Vibert's works' (C. H. Stranahan, A History of French Painting from its Earliest to Latest Practice, New York, 1917, p. 348). Although in many of his works the story is not always obvious, fortunately, in the last year of his life, the artist published the two-volume La Comédie en peinture in which he documented almost all of his works and provided explanatory narratives for each.

The reference to Figaro and the Barber of Seville pervades Vibert's discussion of the present lot, linking the painting to both Rosssini's opera and Pierre Beaumarchais' play, La folle journee. Although the reference to Figaro is oblique, the artist does speak to the barbershop as the 'center of intrigues' and moves tangentially to a short tirade about the decline of the traditional barbershop which offered more than just a haircut and shave but was a meeting place for the exchange of news and opinions. He deplores the rise of the 'elegant hair salon' and the fall of the poor barber to a transient who must carry all him implements with him and set up shop wherever he can.