National Gallery of Art :: The Collection :: The House of Cards
  • Inscription
  • Provenance
  • Exhibition History
  • Bibliography

Overview

No overview.

Inscription

lower center on table frame in dark brown paint: J. Chardin

Marks and Labels

null

Provenance

Catherine II, empress of Russia [1729-1796], by 1774, for the Imperial Hermitage Gallery, Saint Petersburg;[1] purchased March 1931 through (Matthiesen Gallery, Berlin; P. & D. Colnaghi & Co., London; and M. Knoedler & Co., New York) by Andrew W. Mellon [1855-1937], Pittsburgh and Washington, D.C.; deeded 1 May 1937 to The A.W. Mellon Educational and Charitable Trust, Pittsburgh;[2] gift 1937 to NGA.

[1] The painting first appeared in a Hermitage catalogue in 1774. See Serge Ernst, "Notes sur des tableaux français de l'Ermitage," Revue de l'Art 68, no. 365 (November 1935): 135-144, who says that the manuscript catalogue was drawn up by Ernst Milich between 1777 and 1785; Little Girl with a Shuttlecock is no. 407; The House of Cards is no. 408. Rosenberg, in Pierre Rosenberg, Chardin, 1699-1779, Exh. cat. (Galeries nationales du Grand Palais, Paris, Cleveland Museum of Art, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston), Cleveland, 1979: 234, under no. 72, states (in reference to the same catalogue, which he dates to 1774, following Paul Lacroix, "Musée de Palais de l'Hermitage sous le règne de Catherine II," Revue Universelle des Arts 13 [1861]: 178, no. 408) that "no. 408 'Un jeune garcon faisant des maisons de cartes' refers indisputably to the painting now in Washington."

[2] The dates of the Mellon purchase and the deed to the Mellon Trust are according to Mellon records in NGA curatorial files and David Finley's notebook (donated to NGA in 1977 and now in Gallery Archives).

Exhibition History

1737
Salon, Paris, 1737, unnumbered catalogue.
1979
Chardin 1699-1779, Grand Palais, Paris; Cleveland Museum of Art; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 1979, no. 73, repro.
2003
The Age of Watteau, Chardin, and Fragonard: Masterpieces of French Genre Painting, National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa; National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; Altes Museum, Berlin, 2003-2004, no. 35, repro.
2007
Masterpieces from the World's Museums in the Hermitage: Jean-Baptiste-Simeon Chardin's 'House of Cards' from the National Art Gallery, Washington, The State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, 2007-2008, illustrated booklet.
2012
Taking Time: Chardin's "Boy building a House of Cards" and other paintings, Waddesdon Manor, Buckinghamshire, 2012, no. 4, repro.

Bibliography

1861
Lacroix, Paul. "Musée du Palais de l'Ermitage sous le règne de Catherine II." Revue universelle des arts 13 (1861):178, no. 408.
1863
Koehne, Baron B. de. Ermitage impérial: Catalogue de la galerie des tableaux. vols. Saint Petersbourg, 1863:III:326, no. 1515 (2cd ed. 1871:III:57, no. 1515).
1864
Goncourt, Edmond de, and Jules de Goncourt. "Chardin." Gazette des Beaux-Arts 1st ser., vol. 16 (February 1864): 154, no. 2.
1869
"Exposition de 1737," in Collection des livrets des anciennes expositions. 43 vols. Paris, 1869:4:15
1880
Goncourt, Edmond de, and Jules de Goncourt. L'art du dix-huitième siècle. 2 vols. Paris, 1880: I:120.
1880
Ris, Le comte Clément de. "Musées du nord: Musée impérial de l'Ermitage à Saint Petersbourg." Gazette des Beaux-Arts 2nd ser., 21 (March 1880): 270.
1899
Dilke, Emilia F.S., Lady. "Chardin et ses oeuvres à Potsdam et à Stockholm." Gazette des Beaux-Arts. 3rd ser., vol. 22 (September 1899):181, 184
1899
Dilke, Emilia F.S., Lady. French Painters of the XVIIIth Century. London, 1899:114
1903
Somof, Andrei. Ermitage impérial: Catalogue de la galerie des tableaux. vols. Saint Petersbourg, 1903: 21, no. 1515
1905
Masters in Art. 10 vols. Boston, 1905:6:42, 210
1906
Foster, Joshua James. French Art from Watteau to Prud'hon. 3 vols. London, 1906: II: 81
1907
Dayot, Armand and Leandre Vaillat. L'Oeuvre de J.-B.-S. Chardin et de J.-H. Fragonard. Paris, 1907: iv, pl. 13
1907
Dayot, Armand. "Chardin." L'Art et les artistes. 5 (June 1907): repro. 122
1907
Dayot, Armand. J.-B. Siméon Chardin, avec un catalogue complete de l'oeuvre du maître par Jean Guiffrey. Paris, 1907[?]: (in catalogue) 6, 35, 91, 97.
1909
Pilon, Edmond. Chardin. Paris, 1909: 43, 95, 100, 104, repro. 96
1909
Wrangell, Le baron Nicolas. Les Chefs-d'oeuvre de la galerie de tableaux de l'Hermitage Impérial à St-Pétersbourg. London, 1909:repro. 230
1911
Furst, Herbert Ernest Augustus. Chardin. London, 1911: 37, 133, repro. pl. 9
1925
Bodkin, Thomas. "Chardin in the London and Dublin National Galleries." The Burlington Magazine 47, no. 269 (August 1925):93
1929
Réau, Louis. Catalogue de l'art français dans les musées russes. Paris, 1929:20, no. 33
1932
Ridder, André de. J.B.S. Chardin. Paris, 1932: 87, repro. pl. 76
1935
Ernst, Serge. "Notes sur des tableaux français de l'Ermitage." Revue de l'art ancien et moderne. vol. 68, no. 365 (November 1935): ii, 135-136, repro. 137
1935
Réau, Louis. Histoire de la peinture française au XVIIIe siècle. 2 vols. Paris, 1935:I:47
1936
Wilenski, R.H. French Painting. Boston, 1936:135, repro. pl. 59; rev.ed. 1949:125, repro. pl. 58
1941
Preliminary Catalogue of Paintings and Sculpture. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1941: 38-39.
1941
"World Masterpieces Lend Supreme Distinction to National Gallery of Art." Washington Star. 16 March 1941:F6
1942
Book of Illustrations. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1942: 241, repro. 45.
1945
Goldschmidt, Ernst. Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin. Stockholm, 1945:86-87, repro. 27 [caption incorrectly gives location as Louvre]
1949
Paintings and Sculpture from the Mellon Collection. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1949 (reprinted 1953 and 1958): 104, repro.
1949
Jourdain, Francis. Chardin. Paris, 1949: repro. 27
1952
Cairns, Huntington, and John Walker, eds., Great Paintings from the National Gallery of Art. New York, 1952: 122, color repro.
1956
Einstein, Lewis. "Looking at French Eighteenth Century Pictures in Washington." Gazette des Beaux-Arts 6th ser., 67, no. 1048-1049 (May-June 1956): 233, repro. 231.
1957
Shapley, Fern Rusk. Comparisons in Art: A Companion to the National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC. London, 1957 (reprinted 1959): 47, pl. 116.
1959
Cooke, Hereward Lester. French Paintings of the 16th-18th Centuries in the National Gallery of Art. Washington, D.C., 1959 (Booklet Number Four in Ten Schools of Painting in the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.): 30, color repro.
1963
Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.. New York, 1963 (reprinted 1964 in French, German, and Spanish): 316, repro.
1965
Summary Catalogue of European Paintings and Sculpture. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1965: 26.
1966
Cairns, Huntington, and John Walker, eds., A Pageant of Painting from the National Gallery of Art. 2 vols. New York, 1966: 2:308, color repro.
1968
European Paintings and Sculpture: Illustrations (Companion to the Summary Catalogue, 1965). Washington, 1968: 19, no. 90, repro.
1975
European Paintings: An Illustrated Summary Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1975: 64, repro.
1975
Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. New York, 1975: 325, repro.
1978
King, Marian. Adventures in Art: National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. New York, 1978: 63, pl. 36.
1978
Levitine, George. Girodet-Trioson: An Iconographical Study. New York, 1978: 324, repro. 82.
1980
Fried, Michael. Absorption and Theatricality: Painting and Beholder in the Age of Diderot. Berkeley, 1980:46-53, repro. 53 fig. 31.
1983
Rosenberg, Pierre. L'opera completa di Chardin. Milan, 1983: no. 109, repro.
1984
Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Rev. ed. New York, 1984: 323, no. 424, color repro.
1985
European Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1985: 85, repro.
1986
Conisbee, Philip. Chardin. Oxford, 1986: 148-149, repro. pl. 136
1990
Fried, Michael. Courbet's Realism. Chicago, 1990:8-9, repro.
1991
Kopper, Philip. America's National Gallery of Art: A Gift to the Nation. New York, 1991: 91, 92, color repro.
1994
Roland Michel, Marianne. Chardin. Paris, 1994:67, 201, 227, 233 n. 30, 235 n. 73, 240, 242, color repro. on cover.
1995
Edizel, Gerar. "Jean-Siméon Chardin: Seeing, Playing, Forgetting, and the Practice of Modern Imitation." PhD. diss., Cornell University,1995:175-180, 190, repro. fig. 49.
1998
Douthwaite, Julia V. "Private Life in the Public Eye: Rousseau's Autobiography and Eighteenth-Century Painting." Studies on Voltaire and the Eighteenth Century no. 358.(1998):145, repro. fig. 506.
1998
Gilbert, Rita. Living with Art, 5th ed.,Boston, 1998:441, repro. fig. 506.
1998
Jarasse, Dominique. La peinture française au XVIIIe siècle. Paris, 1998:131-132, 137, repro. 133.
1999
Berger, Robert W. Public Access to Art in Paris: A Documentary History from the Middle Ages to 1800. University Park, Penn., 1999: 172, 173, fig. 49
1999
Zuffi, Stefano and Francesca Castria, La peinture baroque. Translated from Italian by Silvia Bonucci and Claude Sophie Mazéas. Paris, 1999: 298, color repro.
2004
Hand, John Oliver. National Gallery of Art: Master Paintings from the Collection. Washington and New York, 2004: 248-249, no. 198, color repro.
2009
Conisbee, Philip, et al. French Paintings of the Fifteenth through the Eighteenth Century. The Collections of the National Gallery of Art Systematic Catalogue. Washington, D.C., 2009: no. 13, 69-74, color repro.
2012
Carey, Juliet. "The House of Cards." Apollo 175, no. 597 (April 2012): 42, 46, 47, color fig. 7.

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