Bernard Lamotte Passport Found in Florida Estate

Bernard Lamotte Passport
Bernard Lamotte represents the quintessential self-made painter, dedicating his life solely to artistic creation. From a young age, he favored pencil and paper over traditional childhood games. At sixteen, a fall left him bedridden for two years. During this time, he observed and recorded the changing atmosphere of Rue du Faubourg St. Honoré from his window. Like Toulouse-Lautrec, Lamotte’s physical limitations sharpened his vision, allowing him to vividly evoke stories from everyday scenes—a skill that served him throughout his life. Bernard Lamotte Passport

A Paris-born artist, illustrator, painter, and muralist, Bernard Lamotte attended the École des Beaux-Arts at the Sorbonne, studying under Bernand Corman and Lucien Simon (1861–1945). Between 1932 and 1935, he traveled to Tahiti and New York. In 1935, he settled in New York City to further his artistic career.

Instant Attention Bernard Lamotte Passport

During his time in New York, between travels to Tahiti and Paris, Bernard Lamotte quickly garnered attention. Within a year of his arrival, he received several mural commissions and held exhibitions, including a solo show at the Wildenstein Gallery. He also exhibited at the Art Institute of Chicago in 1941 and annually at the Carstairs Gallery in New York City from 1941 through the 1950s. In 1965, he had a solo show at the Palm Beach Gallery. Like Pierre Sicard and Grigory Gluckmann, Lamotte was represented by the Dalzell-Hatfield Gallery in Los Angeles, where he had an exhibition in 1975.

Artworks Bernard Lamotte Passport

Bernard Lamotte also created a mural of Christiansted Harbor on St. Croix, Virgin Islands for the White House pool, commissioned by John F. Kennedy. This mural is now preserved in the John F. Kennedy Library and Museum in Boston. His other commissions included projects for businesses, restaurants, corporations, private collectors, and theater designs.

In addition to his painting, Lamotte was an illustrator for numerous fashion magazines. In 1945, a book titled “Bernard Lamotte, Oil Painting and Brush Drawing” by Louis Gauthier was published, and in 1948, his work was reviewed in Time magazine.

Lamotte’s works are featured in museum collections worldwide, including the Tokyo Museum, Luxembourg Museum, Musée d’Art Moderne in Paris, and the French Embassy in Finland. Private collectors of his work include Joseph P. Kennedy, Alfred Barnes, and Anton Dalhuijsen, among others. The Vose Gallery in Boston has hosted several exhibitions of his estate.

The Fishbowl Bernard Lamotte Passport

Lamotte’s atelier, situated above what is now La Grenouille restaurant, became a vibrant hub for expatriate French artists and renowned New York personalities such as Greta Garbo, Charlie Chaplin, and Marlene Dietrich. The studio he shared with his wife, affectionately called Le Bocal (“The Fishbowl”), evolved into a Bohemian haven. The Vose Gallery of Boston has since hosted several exhibitions showcasing his estate.

Friendship with Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry and Bernard Lamotte first met at art school in France. During the early 1940s, Saint-Exupéry frequently visited Lamotte’s New York City studio at 3 East 52nd Street, known as Le Bocal. It was in this studio that he worked on *Le Petit Prince*. Lamotte also provided the illustrations for Saint-Exupéry’s *Flight to Arras*.

Personal Life

Following extensive travels, Bernard Lamotte attained American citizenship in 1951. He wed Lilyan White Kent, a talented painter and sculptor, who was previously married to Twentieth Century Fox president Sidney R. Kent. Through her connections, he encountered luminaries such as Marlene Dietrich, Charlie Chaplin, and Greta Garbo.

Bernard’s life concluded in 1983 at the age of 80, succumbing to surgical complications at St. Luke’s Hospital in Manhattan.

The Passport

Discovered within a Palm Beach, Florida estate, among invitation cards, books, sketchbooks, and paintings by Bernhard La Motte, indicating a personal acquaintance between the previous owner and the artist. The document was offered for sale on eBay and sold within two days.

I would not be surprised if the document shows up in the future at one of the familiar classic auction houses for a much higher price. Some years ago there was the passport of Anna Pavlova at an auction house in Vienna. Read all the details at Anna Pavlova Passport at Auction.

 

Tom Topol | Passport History Expert & Author.
Featured in media incl. CNN, BBC, Newsweek. Awarded by the U.S. Department of State.
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