Charitable Ladies

c. 1780/1785

Hubert Robert

Associated Names
Hubert Robert

Artist, French, 1733 - 1808

This is a painting of a street scene with a stone building and an obelisk. The painting shows figures interacting near a window and on the ground. The building has a striped awning and a fountain with water flowing from a lion's head. Debris and garments are scattered around the fountain. In the background, there is an obelisk with visible hieroglyphs. The figures are engaged in a performance or exchange, with a person playing a musical instrument and a dog sitting nearby. The style is reminiscent of Giovanni Battista Tiepolo.

Media Options

This object’s media is free and in the public domain. Read our full Open Access policy for images.
Not on view See artworks now on view

Artwork overview

  • Medium

    pen and brown ink and watercolor over black chalk on laid paper

  • Credit Line

    Samuel H. Kress Collection

  • Dimensions

    image: 37.8 x 26.8 cm (14 7/8 x 10 9/16 in.)
    support: 48.3 x 36.8 cm (19 x 14 1/2 in.)

  • Accession Number

    1963.15.25

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

George Blumenthal [1858-1941], Paris (sale, Paris, Galerie George Petit, 1-2 December 1932, no. 43, as Les Dames Charitables). Wessel. [1] Purchased 1933 by Samuel H. Kress, New York; gift 1963 to the National Gallery of Art.
[1] The only available sale catalogue for the collector Wessel, which corresponds this time frame (1932-1933), is Elise Wessel’s sale, V. Winkel & Magnussen, Copenhagen, 29-30 November 1933. However, there is no work in this catalogue by Hubert Robert.

Associated Names

Bibliography

1977

  • Eisler, Colin. Paintings from the Samuel H. Kress Collection: European Schools Excluding Italian. Oxford, 1977: 340, dK242, fig. 303.

1978

  • Carlson, Victor. Hubert Robert Drawings and Watercolors. Exh. cat. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1978: 55 (in both as "Strolling Musicians").

Inscriptions

lower left in black ink: Robert

Wikidata ID

Q64574697

You may be interested in

Loading Results