The Artist's Dog Flèche

c. 1881

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec

Artist, French, 1864 - 1901

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec

Attributed to

A white dog spotted with caramel-brown and with long, floppy ears sits in a garden setting near a green park bench in this loosely painted vertical portrait. The dog leans slightly onto its right paw, to our left, and looks off to the right, its ears relaxed. A blue bird crouches near the ground in front of the dog’s feet. Painted with tones of peanut brown and earthy green, a bush and tree trunk fill the background to the right, and the back of the bench is to the left. The artist inscribed the bottom right with his initials, HTL, conjoined in a monogram and the dog’s name, “LA FLECHE.”

Media Options

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    oil on wood

  • Credit Line

    Ailsa Mellon Bruce Collection

  • Dimensions

    overall: 23.7 x 14.2 cm (9 5/16 x 5 9/16 in.)
    framed: 38.4 x 29.9 x 7.3 cm (15 1/8 x 11 3/4 x 2 7/8 in.)

  • Accession Number

    1970.17.84

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Possibly Comte d'Anselme. Possibly Dr. Gabriel Tapié de Céléyran [1869-1930].[1] (Galerie André Weil, Paris). Capt. Edward H. Molyneux [1891-1974], Paris, by 1952;[2] sold 1955 to Ailsa Mellon Bruce [1901-1969], New York; bequest 1970 to NGA.
[1] d'Anselme and Tapié de Céléyran are according to labels on back of painting. The latter was a cousin of the artist, whose mother was Adèle Tapié de Céléyran.
[2] Exhibited with Molyneux collection in 1952.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1952

  • French Paintings from the Molyneux Collection, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1952, unnumbered checklist.

1966

  • French Paintings from the Collections of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon and Mrs. Mellon Bruce, National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1966, no. 147, repro

2017

  • Il mondo fuggevole di Toulouse-Lautrec [The Fleeting World of Toulouse-Lautrec], Palazzo Reale, Milan, 2017-2018, unnumbered catalogue, repro.

Bibliography

1971

  • Dortu, M.G. Toulouse-Lautrec et son oeuvre. 6 vols. New York, 1971:II:P141, repro.

1975

  • European Paintings: An Illustrated Summary Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1975: 350, repro.

1978

  • Small French Paintings from the Bequest of Ailsa Mellon Bruce. Exh. cat. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1978: 80, repro. (continuing exhibition beginning in 1978).

1984

  • Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Rev. ed. New York, 1984: 532, no. 802, color repro.

1985

  • European Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1985: 402, repro.

Inscriptions

lower right: HTL (in monogram) LA FLECHE

Wikidata ID

Q20188878

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