Mound of Butter

1875/1885

Antoine Vollon

Painter, French, 1833 - 1900

A mound of creamy, yellow butter sits to our left of center on a wooden table against an olive-green background in this horizontal still life painting. White cloth, presumably the wrapper or cover, is pushed down around the base of the mound to expose the heap of butter. The top of the mound has a few gouge marks and furrows. A long, narrow wooden paddle is stuck vertically into the right side of the mound, and is submerged almost up to the handle in butter. Two white eggs rest on the table in front of the white fabric, to our right of center. Loose brushstrokes are visible throughout, so the swipes of paint seem to almost become the butter. The artist signed the painting with black letters in the lower left corner: “A. Vollon.”

Media Options

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    oil on canvas

  • Credit Line

    Chester Dale Fund

  • Dimensions

    overall: 50.2 x 61 cm (19 3/4 x 24 in.)
    framed: 68 x 78.1 x 7.6 cm (26 3/4 x 30 3/4 x 3 in.)

  • Accession

    1992.95.1

More About this Artwork

Article:  Introducing the Food for Thought Series

In this series, chefs, farmers, historians, scholars, and other thinkers share their takes on food, consumption, cooking, and eating.

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

(Galerie André Watteau).[1] (Galerie Jonas, Paris); purchased 23 October 1992 by NGA.
[1] A Vollon painting titled Motte de beurre avec deux oeufs is mentioned as being with Galerie André Watteau; see Sophie Monneret, L'Impressionisme et son époque. Dictionnaire internationale illustré, 4 vols., Paris, 1978-1981: 3(1980): 59.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1999

  • Masterpieces from the National Gallery of Art, Washington, Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art; Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum, 1999, no. 20, repro.

  • Around Impressionism: French Paintings from the National Gallery of Art, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1999, no cat.

2004

  • Antoine Vollon (1833-1900), 'A Painter's Painter', Wildenstein & Co., Inc., New York, 2004-2005, no. 47, repro.

2013

  • Intimate Impressionism from the National Gallery of Art, Museo dell'Ara Pacis Augustae, Rome (exhibition title in this venue: Impressionist Gems); California Palace of the Legion of Honor, San Francisco; McNay Art Museum, San Antonio; Mitsubishi Ichigokan Museum, Tokyo, Seattle Art Museum, 2013-2016, pl. 46.

Bibliography

1978

  • Monneret, Sophie, L'Impressionnisme et son Époque 4 vols. Paris, 1978-1981:III:59.

1998

  • Hardouin-Fugier, Élisabeth. Les peintres de natures mortes en France au XIXe siècle. Paris, 1998: 15, repro. 14.

2019

  • Smee, Sebastian. "Art That Makes a Lasting Impression." Washington Post 142, no. 333 (November 3, 2019): E8, color repro.

Inscriptions

lower left: A.Vollon

Wikidata ID

Q20188792

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