Jan Balet, Naive Lithograph Paris Train Station Wedding Party, Honeymoon Scene Folk Art

Hand signed, limited edition on BFK Rives French art paper. I believe the title is Honeymoon.
Jan Balet (20 July 1913 in Bremen – 31 January 2009 in Estavayer le Lac, Switzerland), was a German/US-American painter, graphic artist and illustrator. Affected by the folk art style of naive art he worked particularly as a graphic artist and as an Illustrator of children’s books. His works exhibit a dry wit and refreshingly candid, whimsical, satirical view of life.
His uncle was the famous painter and illustrator Benno Eggert. Many well-known personalities of the time were friends of his grandfather, i.e. the painters Hans Purrmann, Karl Caspar, Maria Caspar-Filser (cousin of his mother), the writer Martin Andersen Nexo, the Swabian poet Wilhelm Schussen as well as the poet and writer Oskar Wöhrle.

In 1929, at the age of 17, he moved to Berlin at the invitation of his father and studied Drawing at the college of Arts and Crafts (Kunstgewerbeschule Ost am Schlesischen Bahnhof). A year later, he went to live with his mother and his grandmother, in Munich. Balet transferred his studies to the Munich College of Arts but was dismissed in 1932. He went on to study with Professor Ege, at a private school for commercial art. During this time he also worked at an institute for lithography and for the art gallery Wallach. Balet rented his first small studio at the age of nineteen, where he manufactured and sold hand colored Bavarian woodcuts. 1934 he passed the entrance examination to the Akademie der Bildenden Künste München and undertook further studies with Olaf Gulbransson. His work is of a popular style similar to Michel Delacroix, Charles Fazzino and James Rizzi. In early 1938 Balet was recruited by the German military and because his ancestor’s passport was not complete, he was forbidden to associate further with the Akademie der Bildenden Künste München. Later that year Balet emigrated to the USA, settled in New York and painted rustic furniture for a living. One winter he jobbed as a skiing teacher in Vermont and occasionally jobbed as an advertising commercial artist. Among other projects, he painted the cafeteria of the largest of New York’s department stores R.H. Macy. From time to time Balet’s designs appeared in the fashion magazine Mademoiselle and in 1943 he became Art Director at the magazine. Balet became so successful as a commercial artist that he was able to give up paid employment and start his own business. He worked for the radio station CBS, magazines such as Vogue, House and Garden, House Beautiful, The Saturday Evening Post, Glamour, Good Housekeeping, This week. After the war ended in 1945 he acquired U.S. citizenship. Balet commuted between his studio in New York and an old, boat house in the dunes of Montauk, Long Island, which he had converted to a studio where he painted and drew. His first children’s book Amos and the Moon was published in 1948. Despite what was regarded in the USA as fashionable art Abstract, Op-art and Pop Art, Balet continued to paint in his own naif style.

Art work (Children books and sketchbooks)
1948 Amos and the moon, Henry Z. Walck Verlag New York
1949 Ned, Ed and the lion
1951 What makes an orchestra
1959 The five Rollatinis, J. B. Lippincott Co. Verlag New York
1965 Joanjo, Pharos Verlag Basel
1966 Das Geschenk Eine portugiesische Weihnachtsgeschichte, Betz-Verlag München
1967 Der König und der Besenbinder, Betz-Verlag München
1969 Der Zaun, Otto Maier Verlag München
1969 Ladismaus, Betz-Verlag München
1979 Ein Skizzenbuch, Windecker Winkelpresse
1980 Katzen-Skizzen, Windecker Winkelpresse
1981 Skizzen-Paare, Windecker Winkelpresse
1981 Die Leihkatze oder Wie man Katzen lieben lernt, Windecker Winkelpresse (Author: Otto Schönberger)
1982 Paris-Skizzen, Windecker Winkelpresse
1984 Hellas-Skizzen, Windecker Winkelpresse
1993 Wasser-Skizzen, Edition Toni Pongratz
1994 Die Zeppeline des Jan Balet, Zeppelin-Museum Friedrichshafen (Taschenbuch)
2008 Angekommen: Gedichte (Author: Hans Skupy)
Publicationen, which Jan Balet illustrated
1945 Alarcon, P.A.: Tales from the Spanish, Allentown
1948 Hanle-Zack, D.: The golden ladle, Chicago-New York
1952 Wing, H.: Rosalinda, Chicago
1953 Wing, H.: The lazy lion, Chicago
1954 Jones, P.: Rumpelstiltskin, Chicago
1955 Jones, P.: Columbine, Chicago
1956 Jones, P.: Fair, brown and trembling, Chicago
1957 Bean blossom hill, Chicago
1958 King, M.B.: The birthday angel, Chicago
1959 King, M.B.: Papa Pompino, Chicago
1960 King, M.B.: The snow queen, Chicago
1960 Doyle, L.: Turkey and ham, New York
1962 Andersen, H.C.: The princess on the pea and other famous stories, New York
1963 Dickens, Ch.: The magic fishbone and other famous stories, New York
1963 Selden, G.: Mice, monks and the Christmas tree, New York
1964 Rossetti, C.: Adding a poem, New York
1967 Just one me, Chicago
1968 Krüss, J.: Ein- Eich & Mondhorn, München
1986 Schönberger, O.: Die Leihkatze oder wie man Katzen lieben lernt, Frankfurt

Awards and honours
1947 Gold Medal, Art Directors Club of New York
1948 Best of Industry, Direct Mail Award
1949 Merit Award, Art Institute of Chicago
1952 Award, Book Clinic, Chicago
1954 Merit Award, Art Directors Club of Chicago
1954 Award for Merit, Art Directors Club of New York
1954 Certificate of Excellence, American Institute of Graphic Arts, New York
1965 Grammy Awards of 1965, Best Album Cover – Classical, Robert M. Jones (art director) & Jan Balet (graphic artist) for Saint-Saens: Carnival of the Animals/Britten: Young Persons Guide to the Orchestra conducted by Arthur Fiedler
1980 Prix d’honneur, Concours International de la Peinture Naive, Morges/Suisse

Exhibitions
1964 München, Pavillon Alter Botanischer Garten
1967 Berlin, Kunstamt Tiergarten
1972 Bremen, Paule-Modersohn-Becker-Haus
1972 Berlin, Galerie Niebuhr
1974 Zürich Galerie Niggli
1975 Düsseldorf, Galerie Vömel
1976 Hamburg, Atelier Mensch
1976 Paris, FIAC
1977 Bologna, Arte Fiera 77
1978 Amsterdam, Galerie Spranger
1978 Art Basel, ART 78
1978 Beverly Hills, Upstairs Gallery
1985 New York, Circle Gallery
1992 Tokio, Galerie Naif Tanaka
Balet’s works are in permanent museum collections in Europe, including the Städt Museum in Munich, the Regierungspräsidium in Tübingen, the Kunsthalle in Bremen, the Langenargen Museum at lake Constance, the Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen in Munich and the Fleischermuseum in Böblingen, Germany.