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Nicolas Lancret

Picnic after the Hunt, probably c. 1735/1740

West Building, Main Floor - Gallery 54

Medium

oil on canvas

Dimensions

overall: 61.5 x 74.8 cm (24 3/16 x 29 7/16 in.)

framed: 84 x 98 x 8.9 cm (33 1/16 x 38 9/16 x 3 1/2 in.)

Credit Line

Samuel H. Kress Collection

Accession Number

1952.2.22

Artists / Makers

Nicolas Lancret (artist) French, 1690 - 1743

Image Use

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Provenance

Friedrich II, King of Prussia [1712-1786], Potsdam;[1] by descent in the imperial Hohenzollern family to Kaiser Wilhelm II [1859-1941], Berlin;[2] sold 1923 to (Wildenstein & Co., Paris, New York, and London); sold December 1946 to the Samuel H. Kress Foundation, New York;[3] gift 1952 to NGA.

[1] The painting is included in Matthieu Österreich, Descriptions de tout l'intérieur des deux palais de Sans-Souci, de ceux de Potsdam et de Charlottenbourg, 1773 [1990]: no. 556.

[2] Two labels on an old backing board removed from the painting read "N. Palais 16032" and "Gen. Kat. No 5299." The latter corresponds to inv. no. GK 1 5299, Generalkatalog of the imperial collection, compiled in the late 19th century, information kindly provided by Dr. Christoph M. Vogtherr, curator of paintings, Stiftung Preussische Schlösser und Gärten Berlin-Brandenburg, Potsdam, 13 April 1999, letter to Nancy Yeide (NGA curatorial files).

[3] See The Kress Collection Digital Archive, https://kress.nga.gov/Detail/objects/2265.

Associated Names

August Wilhelm, Prince
Friedrich II (the Great), King of Prussia
Kress Foundation, Samuel H.
Wildenstein & Co., Inc.
Wilhelm II, Kaiser

Exhibition History

1932: Exhibition of French Art 1200-1900, Royal Academy of Arts, London, 1932, no. 186

1951: Wildenstein Jubilee Loan Exhibition 1901-1951: Masterpieces from Museums and Private Collections, Wildenstein & Co., New York, 1951, no. 23, repro.

1991: Nicolas Lancret: 1690-1743, The Frick Collection, New York; The Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth, 1991-1992, no. 9, pl. 13.

2003: The Age of Watteau, Chardin, and Fragonard: Masterpieces of French Genre Painting, National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa; National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; Altes Museum, Berlin, 2003-2004, no. 16, repro.

Bibliography

n.d.: Seidel, Paul. Gemälde alter Meister im Besitze seiner Majestät des deutschen Kaisers und Königs von Preussen. Berlin, n.d.: 199, no. 46.

1773: Oesterreich, Matthias. Beschreibung aller Gemählde, Antiquitäten, und anderer kostbarer und merkwürdiger Sachen, so in dene beyden Schlössern von Sans-Souci, Schlosse zu Potsdam und Charlottenburg enthalten sind. 1773: no. 556, as Das Frühstuck. Reprint Potsdam-Sanssouci: Staatliche Schlösser und Gärten, 1990.

1863: Parthey, Gustav Friedrich. Deutscher Bildersaal. Verzeichniss der in Deutschland vorhandenen Oelbilder verstorbener Maler aller Schulen. 2 vols. Berlin, 1863-1864: 2(1864):10, no. 10, as Jagdscene.

1875: Bocher, Emmanuel. Les gravures françaises du XVIIIe siècle; ou, Catalogue raisonné des estampes, eaux-fortes, pièces en couleur, au bistre et au lavis, de 1700 à 1800. 6 vols. Paris, 1875-1882: 4(1877):82, no. 556, as Le Déjeuner.

1883: Dohme, Richard. "Die Ausstellung von Gemälden älterer Meister im Berliner Privatbesitz. Die Französische Schule des XVIII. Jahrhunderts. II. Die Schule Watteau's." Jahrbuch der Königlich Preussischen Kunstsammlungen 4 (1883): 246, no. 6, as Jagd-Frühstück.

1900: Seidel, Paul. Les collections d’oeuvres d’art françaises du XVIIIe siècle appartenant à Sa Majesté l’empereur d’Allemagne roi de Prusse. Berlin, 1900: 93-94, no. 40.

1924: Wildenstein, Georges. Lancret. Paris, 1924: 99, no. 443, fig. 108.

1929: Osborn, Max. Die Kunst des Rokoko. Berlin, 1929: repro. 170, 610.

1938: Robiquet, Jean, et al. La Femme dans la peinture française, XVe-XXe siècle. Paris, 1938: 66, color repro.

1948: Wildenstein and Company. French XVIII Century Paintings. New York, 1948: 4.

1951: Paintings and Sculpture from the Kress Collection Acquired by the Samuel H. Kress Foundation 1945-1951. Introduction by John Walker, text by William E. Suida. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1951: 224, no. 100, repro.

1956: Einstein, Lewis. “Looking at French Eighteenth-Century Pictures in Washington.” Gazette des Beaux-Arts ser. 6, 47, no. 1048-1049 (May – June 1956): 221, fig. 7, 224-225.

1959: Paintings and Sculpture from the Samuel H. Kress Collection. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1959: 352, repro.

1961: Walker, John, Guy Emerson, and Charles Seymour. Art Treasures for America: An Anthology of Paintings & Sculpture in the Samuel H. Kress Collection. London, 1961: 180, pls. 172, 173 (detail).

1962: Cairns, Huntington, and John Walker, eds. Treasures from the National Gallery of Art. New York, 1962: 106, color repro.

1962: Meisterwerke aus den Schlössern Friedrichs des Grossen. Exh. cat. Schlöss Charlottenburg, Berlin, 1962: 57, no. 46, as Das Jagdfrühstück.

1965: Summary Catalogue of European Paintings and Sculpture. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1965: 72.

1966: Canaday, John. "Watteau's Forbidden World." Horizon 8, no. 3 (Summer 1966): 76, repro., 78.

1968: National Gallery of Art. European Paintings and Sculpture, Illustrations. Washington, 1968: 63, repro.

1975: European Paintings: An Illustrated Summary Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1975: 186, repro.

1977: Eisler, Colin. Paintings from the Samuel H. Kress Collection: European Schools Excluding Italian. Oxford, 1977: 307-308, fig. 270, as The Repast of the Hunting Party.

1984: Posner, Donald. Antoine Watteau. Ithaca, 1984: 203, fig. 159.

1984: Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Rev. ed. New York, 1984: 330, no. 440, color repro.

1985: European Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1985: 220, repro.

1991: Holmes, Mary Tavener. Nicolas Lancret, 1690-1743. Edited by Joseph Focarino. Exh. cat. Frick Collection, New York; Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth, 1991-1992. New York, 1991: 50-51, 76-77, no. 9, pl. 13, 128-129, 152 n. 98, 154.

1992: Wintermute, Alan. "One of the Great Sponges: The Art of Nicolas Lancret." Apollo 135 (March 1992): 191.

2004: Hand, John Oliver. National Gallery of Art: Master Paintings from the Collection. Washington and New York, 2004: 254, no. 206, color repro.

2004: Watteau et la fête galante. Exh. cat. Musée des Beaux-Arts de Valenciennes. Paris, 2004: 246, 272.

2005: Baillio, Joseph, et al. The Arts of France from François Ier to Napoléon Ier. A Centennial Celebration of Wildenstein's Presence in New York. Exh. cat. Wildenstein & Co., Inc., New York, 2005: 56, fig. 37, 72 (not in the exhibition).

2006: Holmes, Mary Tavener. Nicolas Lancret: Dance Before a Fountain. Los Angeles, 2006: 1, 4, color fig. 4.

2009: Conisbee, Philip, et al. French Paintings of the Fifteenth through the Eighteenth Century. The Collections of the National Gallery of Art Systematic Catalogue. Washington, D.C., 2009: no. 65, 288-291, color repro.

2011: Vogtherr, Christoph Martin. Französische Gemälde I: Watteau, Pater, Lancret, Lajoüe. Berlin, 2011: no. A 17, 683-685, 784, repro.

2014: Wile, Aaron. "Watteau, Reverie, and Selfhood." The Art Bulletin (2014): 8, fig. 10.