Description
Louis Nicolas van Blarenberghe was known for drawings such as this one, which were executed on a small scale with exacting detail. His designs attracted the attention of the French monarchy, and he received numerous royal commissions. This work shows well-dressed figures enjoying outdoor leisure in a rural village. Its panoramic landscape and dense crowd were both characteristic of Van Blarenberghe’s miniaturist style.
Provenance
Christie's Manson & Woods, London, England (December 9, 1975); Mr. Noah L. Butkin [1918-1980] (1975-1980); Mrs. Muriel Butkin [1915-2008] (1980-2008); the Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (March 4, 2019)
Accession Number
2019.63
Medium
gouache on antique laid paper
Dimensions
Sheet: 12.2 x 16.8 cm (4 13/16 x 6 5/8 in.)
Classification
Drawing
Credit Line
Bequest of Muriel Butkin
Tags
Drawing Neoclassical & Romantic (1751–1850) Gouache Paper French
Background & Context
Background Story
Louis Nicolas van Blarenberghe (1716-1794) was a French painter known for the precisely observed, elegantly composed gouache paintings of scenes of French life that make him one of the most accomplished painters of the French Rococo tradition. A Party Picnicking Near a Village from c. 1760-70 depicts a party picnicking near a village in the precisely observed, elegantly composed manner that distinguishes van Blarenberghe's best work from the more general painting of his contemporaries. The c. 1760-70 date places this in the period of the high Rococo, when van Blarenberghe was producing the precisely observed, elegantly composed gouache paintings of scenes of French life that are his most accomplished works.
Cultural Impact
A Party Picnicking Near a Village is important in the history of French painting because it demonstrates the precisely observed, elegantly composed manner that van Blarenberghe brought to scenes of French life as one of the most accomplished painters of the French Rococo. Van Blarenberghe's precisely observed gouache paintings of scenes of French life—depicting the leisure of the French aristocracy with the precise observation and elegant composition that are his most distinctive contributions—represent one of the most accomplished traditions in French Rococo painting, and the c. 1760-70 painting shows this tradition at its most elegantly composed.
Why It Matters
A Party Picnicking Near a Village is van Blarenberghe's elegantly composed Rococo gouache: a party picnicking rendered in the precisely observed manner of one of the most accomplished painters of the French Rococo. The c. 1760-70 painting shows the leisure of the French aristocracy with precise observation and elegant composition.
