The Beggars
c. 1843
Artist, French, 1808 - 1879
Artwork overview
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Medium
oil on canvas
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Credit Line
-
Dimensions
overall: 59.5 x 73.5 cm (23 7/16 x 28 15/16 in.)
framed: 92.7 x 105.4 x 8.9 cm (36 1/2 x 41 1/2 x 3 1/2 in.) -
Accession
1963.10.12
Artwork history & notes
Provenance
The artist [1808-1879]; by inheritance to his wife, Marie-Alexandrine Daumier, Paris; (Durand-Ruel, New York); sold 1892 to Peter A.B. Widener [1834-1915], Elkins Park, Pennsylvania; by exchange April 1908 to (M. Knoedler & Co., London, New York and Paris); sold November 1908 to de Lagotellière, Paris.[1] [Eugene?] Hirsch, Paris; (sale, Hôtel Drouot, Paris, 7 December 1912, no. 17); purchased by Gaston Bernheim de Villers [1870-1953], Paris, for his private collection. Julien Bessonneau, Angers, in 1914.[2] Marcel Kapferer, Paris, by 1924;[3] (Galerie Matthiesen, Berlin); sold by 1930 to Fritz Hess, Lucerne;[4] (Hess sale, Galerie Paul Cassirer, Berlin, in conjunction with Galerie Fischer, Lucerne, 1 September 1931, no. 17, bought in or bought by Arthur Fischer of Galerie Fischer); (Hess sale, Galerie Fischer, Lucerne, 2-7 September 1935, no. 2343, St. Galler und Basler Privatbesitz, Sammlung B., bought in); (Arthur Fischer, Lucerne); sold 1949 to Chester Dale [1883-1962], New York; bequest 1963 to NGA.[5]
[1] The picture was traded, in May 1908, to Knoedler & Co., New York, for "3 Van Dycks," according to a handwritten note on the plate reproducing the painting in the copy of the 1908 Widener catalogue in the NGA library's Archive section (Reference Librarian's Office). The sale by Knoedler to de Lagotellière was confirmed by Knoedler to David Rust, 30 March 1964.
[2] Lent by Bessonneau to the 1914 exhibition at Grosvenor House, according to T. Martin Wood, "The Grosvenor House Exhibition of Modern French Art," International Studio LIV, no. 213 (November 1914): 7.
[3] Lent in 1924 by Kapferer to 1e Exposition de Collectionneurs, held at L'Hôtel de la Curiousité et des Beaux-Arts in Luxembourg.
[4] Lent by Hess to the 1930 Corot-Daumier exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art, New York.
[5] Date and source of Dale acquisition according to Chester Dale papers in NGA curatorial records.
Associated Names
Exhibition History
1914
Modern French Art, Grosvenor House, London, 1914
1924
Première exposition de collectionneurs au profit des amis du Luxembourg, Paris, 1924, no. 111
1925
Les grandes influences au dix-neuvième siècle, Paul Rosenberg, Paris, 1925, no. 4
1926
Austellung Honoré Daumier, Galerie Matthiesen, Berlin, 1926, no. 61, repro.
1930
Corot-Daumier, Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1930, no. 62, repro.
1931
Romantische Malerie in Deutschland und Frankreich, Ludwigs Gallery, Munich, 1931, no. 22
1965
The Chester Dale Bequest, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1965, unnumbered checklist.
1979
Berenson and the Connoisseurship of Italian Painting, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1979, no. 35, repro.
Bibliography
1885
Modern Paintings. Catalogue of Paintings forming the Private Collection of P.A.B. Widener, Ashborne--near Philadelphia, privately printed, 1908: 17, repro., as Paupers Seeking Alms.
1888
Alexandre, Arsène. Honoré Daumier, l'homme et l'oeuvre. Paris, 1888: pl. 28.
1908
"P.A.B. Widener Collection, February 1st, 1908." Typescript, 2 vols., Library, National Gallery of Art, 1908: 17, repro., as Paupers Seeking Alms.
1914
Wood, T. Martin. "The Grosvenor House Exhibition of Modern French Art."International Studio 54, no. 213 (November 1914): repro. 7.
1922
Honoré Daumier. The Phillips Publications, New York, 1922: pl. 16, mistakenly as Saltimbanques.
1923
Fontainas, André. La Peinture de Daumier. Paris, 1923: pl. 13.
Klossowski, Erich. Honoré Daumier. Munich, 1923: 113, no. 291A.
1924
L'Amour de l'Art 2 (1924): 51.
1927
Fuchs, Eduard. Der Maler Daumier. New York, 1927: 45, repro. opposite 16 (Munich, 1930: 45, repro. opposite 111).
1931
Art News 29, no. 38 (11 July 1931): 13, repro.
Bulletin de l'art ancien et moderne (November 1931): 438.
1935
Bulletin de l'art ancien et moderne (November 1935): 367.
Beaux Arts (13 September 1935): repro. 6.
1938
Lassaigne, Jacques. Daumier. New York, 1938: 167, no. 93, pl. 93.
1954
Schweicher, Curt. Daumier. London, 1954: pl. 44.
Adhémar, Jean. Homoré Daumier. Paris, 1954: 114, no. 18, pl. 18 (mistakenly listed as in the Musée Boymans, Rotterdam).
1965
Eighteenth and Nineteenth Century Paintings & Sculpture of the French School in the Chester Dale Collection. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1965: 41, repro.
Summary Catalogue of European Paintings and Sculpture. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1965: 37.
1968
National Gallery of Art. European Paintings and Sculpture, Illustrations. Washington, 1968: 30, repro.
Maison, K.E. Honoré Daumier, catalogue raisonné. 2 vols. New York, 1968: I:191, no. 16, repro.
1971
Mandel, Gabriele. L'opera pittorica completa di Daumier. Milan, 1971: no. 111, repro.
1975
European Paintings: An Illustrated Summary Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1975: 92, repro.
1984
Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Rev. ed. New York, 1984: 437, no. 624, color repro.
1985
European Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1985: 114, repro.
2000
Eitner, Lorenz. French Paintings of the Nineteenth Century, Part I: Before Impressionism. The Collections of the National Gallery of Art Systematic Catalogue. Washington, D.C., 2000: 153-157, repro.
Inscriptions
lower left: h. Daumier
Wikidata ID
Q20187024