Cleveland Museum of Art
A Painter
Ernest MeissonierLinkedCulture matchlcp-6da86b6e9bce
- Date
- 1855
- Medium
- oil on mahogany
- Culture
- France, 19th century
- Department
- Modern European Painting and Sculpture
- Institution
- Cleveland Museum of Art
- Object ID
- 150841
Meissonier often depicted artists and musicians of the 1600s and 1700s engaged in their work. This artist is busy painting a small canvas depicting a nymph and satyr. The artist’s 18th-century costume—nearly 100 years out of date at the time of the painting’s creation—transforms the scene into a charming historical fiction. Meissonier exhibited the painting at the Paris Salon of 1857. The fashionable attire worn by the subject of this painting is from the previous century. In order to ensure authenticity in his paintings, Meissionier collected accessories from local costume markets to assemble a “work library.”
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Provenance & credit
As published by the source institution. Coverage varies — not every institution's open-data feed includes ownership history.
- Credit line
- Gift of Mrs. Noah L. Butkin
- Provenance
- 1861: Countess Lehon [1808-1880], Paris, France, her sale, April 2-3,1861, lot 10, sold to Vente X . . . de Vienne | 1861-1871: Vente X . . . de Vienne, 1861, (possibly Georg Plach [1818-1885], Vienna, Austria | by 1871: G. Simpson, by 1871 | 1883-1884: John Grant Morris [1811-1897], Allerton Priory, Liverpool, United Kingdom,1883, sold to Samuel P. Avery | by 1884: (Samuel P. Avery, New York, NY, by 1884, sold to William H. Vanderbilt) | William H. Vanderbuilt [1821-1885], New York, NY, by descent to his son, George W. Vanderbuilt | George W. Vanderbilt [1862-1914], New York, NY, by descent to Cornelius Vanderbilt III | 1919-1945: Cornelius Vanderbilt III [1983-1942], New York, NY by descent to his widow, Mrs. Cornelius Vanderbilt III | 1945: Mrs. Cornelius Vanderbilt III, his widow', [1870-1953], New York, NY, consigned to Parke-Bernet for sale | 1945: (Parke-Bernet Galleries, New York, NY, April 18-19, 1945, sold to Mrs. Derek Spence) | 1945-1976: Mrs. Derek Spence [1905-1984], New York, NY, February 1976, consigned to Hammer Gallery | 1976: (Hammer Gallery, New York, NY, July 1976, sold to Shepherd Gallery) | 1976: (Shephard Gallery, New York, NY, July 1976, sold to Mr. and Mrs. Noah L. Butkin) | 1976-1982: Mrs. Noah L. Butkin [1915-2008], Shaker Heights, OH, given to the Cleveland Museum of Art | 1982-: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
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