Gardens of an Italian Villa (Villa Medici?)

1773/1774

Jean-Honoré Fragonard

Associated Names
Jean Honoré Fragonard

Artist, French, 1732 - 1806

The image depicts a outdoor scene with soft, detailed brushstrokes and a tranquil ambiance. The composition includes trees with thin trunks and delicate canopies on the left, and in the background, small figures are engaged in various activities around ladders, a cart wheel, and pieces of timber. The color palette consists of muted sepia tones, creating an aged, monochromatic appearance.

Media Options

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    brush and brown ink over graphite on laid paper

  • Credit Line

    Samuel H. Kress Collection

  • Dimensions

    overall: 14.3 x 17.5 cm (5 5/8 x 6 7/8 in.)

  • Accession Number

    1963.15.7

  • Catalogue Raisonné

    Ananoff 1961, no. 1446

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

M. Marquiset; (sale, Paris, Hôtel Drouot, 28-29 April 1890, no. 90); M. Cournerie; (sale, Paris, 8-9 December 1891, no. 72); Lucien Guiraud, Paris; Richard Owen, Paris; purchased 1939 by the Samuel H. Kress Foundation; gift 1963 to NGA.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1978

  • Drawings by Fragonard in North American Collections. National Gallery of Art, Washington and tour, 1978, no. 35.

1990

  • Gardens on Paper, Prints and Drawings, 1200-1900. NGA, 1990, no. 87, repro.

1991

  • J.H. Fragonard e H. Robert a Roma. Villa Medici, Rome, 1990-1991, no. 163.

Bibliography

n.d.

  • Thomas Le Claire Kunsthandel. Master Drawings 1500-1900. Hamburg, n.d.: under no. 23.

1961

  • Ananoff, Alexandre. L'oeuvre dessiné de Jean-Honoré Fragonard (1732 - 1806). 4 vols. Paris, 1961-1970.

1977

  • Eisler, Colin. Paintings from the Samuel H. Kress Collection: European Schools Excluding Italian. Oxford, 1977: 336, dK548, fig. 299.

1987

  • Rosenberg, Pierre. Fragonard. Exh. Cat. Galeries nationales du Grand Palais, Paris; Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1987-1988. Paris, 1987: 363, fig. 3.

Inscriptions

in later hand, across center verso in graphite: fragonard / vente[octaval?]; across bottom verso in graphite: (4 lines in French)

Wikidata ID

Q64581215

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