La Bretonnerie in the Department of Indre
1856
Artist, French, 1819 - 1877
Artwork overview
-
Medium
oil on canvas
-
Credit Line
Gift of the W. Averell Harriman Foundation in memory of Marie N. Harriman
-
Dimensions
overall: 60.8 x 73.3 cm (23 15/16 x 28 7/8 in.)
framed: 81.3 x 94 x 7.6 cm (32 x 37 x 3 in.) -
Accession
1972.9.8
Artwork history & notes
Provenance
Gift from the artist to Clément Laurier [1831-1878].[1] Private collection, Poitiers, France, by 1935.[2] (Paul Rosenberg et Cie., Paris), by 1937;[3] (Paul Rosenberg and Co., New York); sold June 1947 to Marie N. Harriman [1903-1970] and W. Averell Harriman [1891-1986], New York;[4] The W. Averell Harriman Foundation, New York; gift 1972 to NGA.
[1] Letter from Robert Fernier to David Rust, dated 31 July 1972, in NGA curatorial files.
[2] Lent to Gustave Courbet, Kunsthaus, Zurich, 1935, no. 44, from a private collection in Poitiers.
[3] Exhibited at Paul Rosenberg Galleries in Paris in 1937. It was deposited with part of the Rosenberg collection at the Banque Nationale pour le Commerce et l'Industrie in Libourne, from which it was confiscated by the Nazi's ERR on 28 April 1941 (see Rosenberg claim file, National Archives RG260/OMGUS/Records of the Museum, Fine Arts and Archives Section/Cultural Property Claims Applications/ Box 743, copies in NGA curatorial files). Documents from the National Archives in Washington indicate that the painting had been selected by Hermann Goering on 14 September 1941 from the Jeu de Paume (OSS Consolidated Interrogation Report #2, The Goering Collection, 15 September 1945, Attachment 5, Liste der für die Sammlung des Reichsmarschalls Hermann Göring abgegebenen Kunstgegenstände, dated 20 October 1942, no. 52, National Archives RG239/Entry 73/Box 78, copy in NGA curatorial files). The records of the Munich Central Collecting Point indicate that the painting was recovered at Berchtesgaden and restituted to France on 29 January 1946 (Munich property card #5836/788; French Receipt for Cultural Objects no. IIIa, item no. 167, National Archives RG260/Box 503 and RG260/Box 287, copies in NGA curatorial files). The painting was returned to the Rosenbergs on 17 May 1946 (see correspondence dated 23 June 2000 from the French Ministere des Affaires Étrangeres in NGA curatorial files.)
[4] See Harriman collection records in NGA curatorial files.
Associated Names
Exhibition History
1935
Gustave Courbet, Kunsthaus, Zurich, 1935, no. 44, repro.
1937
Exposition Gustave Courbet, Paul Rosenberg, Paris, 1937, no. 6, repro., as La Bretonnerie aux confins de l'Indre et de la Vienne.
1938
Ten French Painters of the 19th Century, Rosenberg & Helft, London, 1938, no. 6, as La Bretonnerie aux confins de l'Indre et de la Vienne.
Gustave Courbet, Rosenberg & Helft, London, 1938, no. 6, repro., as La Bretonnerie aux confins de l'Indre et de la Vienne.
Honderd Jaar Fransche Kunst, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, 1938, no. 66, repro.
1955
Albany Institute of History and Art, 1955, no cat.
1956
Loan Exhibition of Paintings by Gustave Courbet, Paul Rosenberg & Co., New York, 1956, no. 6, repro.
Pictures Collected by Yale Alumni, Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, 1956, no. 63, repro., as Paysage aux confins de l'Indre.
1959
Gustave Courbet. Philadelphia Museum of Art, Boston Museum of Fine Arts, 1959-1960, no. 25, repro., as La Bretonnerie aux confins de l'Indre et de la Vienne.
1961
Exhibition of the Marie and Averell Harriman Collection, National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1961, unnumbered catalogue, repro. 11
1974
Loan for display with permanent collection, Art Museum of South Texas, Corpus Christi, 1974-1976.
1979
Loan for display with permanent collection, Art Museum of South Texas, Corpus Christi, 1979-1980.
1981
Extended loan for use by Justice John Paul Stevens, The Supreme Court of the United States, Washington, D.C., 1981-1986.
1990
Französische Impressionisten und ihre Wegbereiter aus der National Gallery of Art, Washington und dem Cincinnati Art Museum, Neue Pinakothek, Munich, 1990, no. 13, repro.
1992
From El Greco to Cézanne: Masterpieces of European Painting from the National Gallery of Art, Washington, and The Metroplitan Museum of Art, New York, National Gallery of Greece, Athens, 1992-1993, no. 40, repro.
1996
Obras Maestras de la National Gallery of Art de Washington, Museo Nacional de Antropología, Mexico City, 1996-1997, unnumbered catalogue, 146-147, color repro.
1999
Around Impressionism: French Paintings from the National Gallery of Art, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1999, no cat.
Masterpieces from the National Gallery of Art, Washington, Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art; Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum, 1999, no. 6, repro.
2014
Gustave Courbet, Fondation Beyeler, Basel, 2014 - 2015, no. p. 81.
Bibliography
1940
Fosca, François. Courbet. Paris, 1940: unpaginated, repro.
1975
European Paintings: An Illustrated Summary Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1975: 84, repro.
1977
Fernier, Robert. La Vie et l'oeuvre de Gustave Courbet, catalogue raisonné. Peintures, 1819-1865. Paris, 1977: no. 191, repro.
1978
Zieglar, Jean. "Quelques précisions sur Courbet dans l'Indre (1855-1856), ses séjours, ses tableaux d'après des lettres inédits." Gazette des Beaux-Arts 91 (April 1978): 172.
1984
Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Rev. ed. New York, 1984: 445, no. 644, color repro., as Landscape near the Banks of the Indre.
1985
Courthion, Pierre. L'opera completa di Courbet. Milan, 1985: no. 183, repro.
European Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1985: 104, repro.
1991
Coman, Florence E. Joie de Vivre: French Paintings from the National Gallery of Art. Washington, 1991: no. 3, repro., as Landscape near the Banks of the Indre.
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: 112-115, color repro.
Yeide, Nancy H. "Behind the Lines: Lessons in Nazi-Era Provenance Research." Museum News 79, no. 6 (November/December 2000): 50+, repro.
Inscriptions
lower left: G.Courbet / 56
Wikidata ID
Q20188377