Herdsmen Driving Cattle across a Stream

c. 1760

Jean-Baptiste Deshays

Associated Names
Jean-Baptiste Deshays

Artist, French, 1729 - 1765

This is a painting of a scene depicting a herd of cattle and sheep with a person guiding them. The animals are depicted with dynamic brushstrokes suggesting movement. Swirling cloud-like formations can be seen in the background. The color palette is warm and earthy, consisting of browns, beiges, and hints of red and blue. Light and shadow are used to add depth to the figures. The style is similar to Peter Paul Rubens, known for capturing dynamic scenes and rich texture.

Media Options

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    oil and brown wash over black chalk on laid paper laid down on board

  • Credit Line

    Ailsa Mellon Bruce Fund

  • Dimensions

    overall: 29.5 x 29.9 cm (11 5/8 x 11 3/4 in.)

  • Accession Number

    1999.19.4

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Alphonse Kann (sale, Galerie George Petit, Paris, 6-8 December 1920, no. 6, as Boucher). Professor Hans Robert Hahnloser [1899-1974], Bern (sale, Christie's, London, 17 July 1972, no. 6, as Deshays); private collection (sale, Sotheby-Parke Bernet, London, 8 November 1978, no. 6, as F. Boucher); private collection, Washington (sale, Christie's, New York, 10 January 1990, no. 121); (Galerie Cailleux, Paris) (sale, Christie's, New York, 28 January 1999, no. 136); NGA purchase (via David Tunick, Inc., New York) in 1999.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1940

  • Die hauptwerke der Sammlung Hahnloser, Kunstmuseum, Lucerne, 1940, no. 28, as Boucher.

1984

  • Exhibition of Old Master Drawings/ Kate de Rothschild exhibiting at Alan Jacobs Gallery, London, 1984, no. 21.

2009

  • Renaissance to Revolution: French Drawings from the National Gallery of Art, 1500-1800. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 2009, 164-165, 285, no. 71 (color).

2012

  • The Baroque Genius of Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D. C., 2012 (no cat.).

Bibliography

2008

  • Bancel, André. Jean-Baptiste Deshays, 1729-1765. Paris, 2008: 137, no. P.85 (color repro. p. 47).

Inscriptions

by later hand, along left edge of mount verso in red ink: R/L 18; by later hand, along left edge of mount verso in black ink: MC 092-23

Wikidata ID

Q64581122

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