Don Quixote Defeated by the Windmill

1780s

Jean-Honoré Fragonard

Associated Names
Jean Honoré Fragonard

Artist, French, 1732 - 1806

This is a drawing of a fallen knight in armor on the ground with a sword. The knight appears to be lying on a rustic landscape, with an arm outstretched clutching a shield, while trees and a windmill provide environment in the background. Light, sketchy lines characterize the style, with quick strokes suggesting movement and detailing. The background features suggestive outlines of people in the midst of action.

Media Options

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    brush with brown and gray washes over charcoal on laid paper

  • Credit Line

    Gift of Gertrude Laughlin Chanler

  • Dimensions

    overall: 41.7 x 29.7 cm (16 7/16 x 11 11/16 in.)

  • Accession Number

    2000.9.10

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Probably Baron Dominique-Vivant Denon, Paris, by 1795, one of 19 Don Quixote illustrations by Fragonard owned by him (sale, Paris, 1826, no. 728 [the group]); to Delaunay. Lt. Col. E. W. Blunt Mackenzie, Castle Leod, Strathpeffer, Scotland (sale, Sotheby's, London, 26 July 1933, no. 95); Hon. Irwin Boyle Laughlin, Washington, D.C. (not in Lugt), 1933; his wife, Therese Iselin Laughlin, Washington, D.C., 1941; their daughter, Gertrude Laughlin Chanler, New York, 1958; gift to NGA, 2000.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1982

  • Eighteenth Century Drawings from the Collection of Mrs. Gertrude Laughlin Chanler, NGA, Washington, D.C., 1982, no. 10.

2000

  • Drawings and Prints from the Permanent Collection (Summer 2000), National Gallery of Art, Washington, 2000 (no catalogue).

2007

  • Fragonard, Les plaisirs d'un siècle. Musée Jacquemart-André, Paris, 2007-2008, no. 77 (Marie-Anne Dupuy-Vachez).

Bibliography

1877

  • Portalis, Baron Roger de. Les dessinateurs d'illustrations au 18e siècle. 2 parts in 4 vols. Paris, 1877: 1 (pt. 2): 224, 229.

1889

  • Portalis, Baron Roger. Fragonard. Sa vie et son oeuvre. 2 vols. Paris, 1889: 2:215, 299 (the series).

1945

  • Mongan, Elizabeth, Philip Hofer, and Jean Seznec. Fragonard Drawings for Ariosto. New York, 1945: 19-20, 35 (the series).

1961

  • Ananoff, Alexandre. "Alexandre-Evariste Fragonard et son père." Bulletin de la Société de l'Histoire de l'Art Français (1961): 155-157 (the series as A. E. Fragonard).

  • Ananoff, Alexandre. L'oeuvre dessiné de Jean-Honoré Fragonard (1732 - 1806). 4 vols. Paris, 1961-1970: 4:no. 2667 (the series as Alexandre Evariste Fragonard).

1978

  • William, Eunice. Drawings by Fragonard in North American Collections. Exh. cat. National Gallery of Art, Washington; Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University, Cambridge; Frick Collection, New York. Washington, 1978: under no. 60 (the series).

1987

  • Rosenberg, Pierre. Fragonard. Exh. cat. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1987: 499-500 (the series).

1996

  • Laughton, Bruce. "Daumier's Drawings of Don Quixote." Master Drawings 34, no. 4 (Winter 1996): 400-401 (the series).

2003

  • Dupuy-Vachey, Marie-Anne. Fragonard et le Roland Furieux. Paris, 2003: 8 (the series).

2007

  • Dupuy-Vachey, Marie-Anne. Fragonard: Les plaisirs d'un siècle. Exh. cat. Musée Jacquemart-André, Paris, 2007: 140-142 (the series).

2009

  • Grasselli, Margaret Morgan. Renaissance to Revolution: French Drawings from the National Gallery of Art, 1500-1800. Exh. cat. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 2009: 206, fig. 1 (color).

Wikidata ID

Q64581239

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