Provenance

Carstairs Gallery

Carroll Carstairs

est. 1934

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One transparent, ghostly man sits and twelve more people wearing long robes bow over a long table set under a floating, surreal structure in front of a watery landscape in this horizontal painting. The people all have light or tanned skin. At the center of the table opposite us, a man, Jesus, sits facing us with his left hand, to our right, touching his chest and his other hand raised with the thumb and index finger pointing upward. He has long, blond hair, dark brows, and his square jaw is cleanshaven. A piece of white drapery wraps over one shoulder so half of his chest is bare. His body is outlined with light but is transparent so we see the landscape beyond the table through him. Three men are spaced evenly, shoulder by shoulder, to each side of Jesus on the far side of the table. A pair of men sit at each narrow end, and two men sit on our side of the table, one to either side of Jesus. The men on our side kneel at the table, so presumably the rest do as well. They bow their heads low over their praying hands, which rest on the table. Ten of the men wear silvery-white robes. One man to our left wears a lapis-blue cloak and one to our right wears bumblebee yellow. Eight of the men have dark hair, three have gray hair, and one is blond. The table spans the width of the painting, with the short ends to each side receding sharply back in space so there is room for the men there. The parchment-white cloth covering the table is creased deeply where it had been folded. Two pieces of a round loaf of bread, torn in half, are to either side of Jesus near the edge of the table closer to us. A glass tumbler with red liquid sits near Jesus. The scene is lit from the landscape beyond the table, so the people are slightly backlit, and the shadows and the red glow from the glass extend toward us. A structure above the table is suggested by a floating form of interlocking, golden shapes, like an oversized honeycomb, to create a dome-like space. Coffee-brown areas at the upper corners of the painting suggest a ceiling, but the structure fades to transparency as it nears the table. A shimmering body of periwinkle-blue water stretches from behind the table to a row of low, gossamer-white, rocky mountains along the horizon in the distance. One empty, golden yellow rowboat floats in the water, seen past Jesus's left elbow, and a second, indigo-blue boat has been pulled onto a sandy shore to our left. The sky above is topaz blue around a warm, yellow glow emanating from Jesus. A few taupe and cream-white clouds float across the sky. The artist signed the painting in dark brown on the tablecloth in the lower right: “Gala Salvador Dali 1955.”
Salvador Dalí, The Sacrament of the Last Supper, 1955, oil on canvas, Chester Dale Collection, 1963.10.115

The Sacrament of the Last Supper

Salvador Dalí · 1955 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1963.10.115

Shown from the lap up, two women with pale skin and dark hair pulled up and back, wearing white dresses with baby-blue polka dots, sit on a couch in this horizontal portrait painting. Both women have straight, dark brows, delicate noses, smooth skin, and their small, rose-pink mouths are closed. Wispy bangs brush their foreheads, and their hair is piled high with long ringlets falling down their backs. Both wear black ribbons like chokers around their necks. Their dresses have high necks with ruffles along the necklines, ruffles at the wrists, and are gathered under the bust. They sit angled in toward each other. The woman on our left has black hair, and she looks down and to our right with dark eyes. She wears a gold ring with a dark, oval stone on one hand resting in her lap. The other woman has chestnut-brown hair and looks down and off to our left with ice-blue eyes. She holds an open fan in her hands in her lap. The fabric on the couch has vertical white and lilac-purple stripes, and is overlaid with a pattern of pink flowers and green leaves. A framed picture hanging on the bone-white wall behind the women shows an arched painting against a sky-blue background. A few spiky leaves from a houseplant are cut off by the left edge of the painting. The portrait is loosely painted throughout, especially in the couch and background. The artist signed the painting in the upper right corner, “Berthe Morisot.”
Berthe Morisot, The Sisters, 1869, oil on canvas, Gift of Mrs. Charles S. Carstairs, 1952.9.2

The Sisters

Berthe Morisot · 1869 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1952.9.2

Verdant green fields roll in undulating waves back alongside a road in this horizontal landscape painting. The fields take up the left and center of the composition and are painted with thick, curling strokes of emerald, pea, and celery green, and corn yellow to suggest grasses and plants. The pale green road runs up along the right edge of the painting, and is layered with strokes and daubs in butter yellow, spring green, and faint blue. The fields and road meet the horizon line about halfway up the canvas, where an aquamarine-blue sky swirling with white and periwinkle-blue clouds fills the top half of the painting.
Vincent van Gogh, Green Wheat Fields, Auvers, 1890, oil on canvas, Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon, 2013.122.1

Green Wheat Fields, Auvers

Vincent van Gogh · 1890 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  2013.122.1

Shown from the thighs up, a boy wearing a crimson-red waistcoat stands against swags of fabric painted with visible strokes in white, sky blue, harvest yellow, and sage green in this loosely painted, vertical portrait. Painted with choppy brushstrokes, the boy has pale, ivory-white skin, blushing pink cheeks, pursed lips, faint eyebrows, and topaz-blue eyes that gaze down to our right. His shoulder-length, dark brown hair is tucked behind one ear under a brown wide-brimmed hat. His red waistcoat is worn over a long-sleeved, slate-blue shirt. The collar of his skirt is slightly flipped up on his right side, to our left, and a swipe of cobalt blue suggests a tie or scarf between the lapels. A band of sapphire blue could be a belt above olive-green trousers, and dashes of navy blue create shadows. His right hand, to our left, is planted on that hip. The other arm hangs straight and loose by his side, those fingertips almost brushing the bottom edge of the canvas. The boy’s body is outlined in dark blue. The drapery behind him falls in folds that sweep gently to our right. The background is painted with patches and swipes of cool blues and greens, and pale golden yellow. One swag of the drapery, over the shoulder to our left, is painted with a loose pattern suggesting leaves. One back post and a sliver of the curving back of a wooden chair peeks into the composition in the lower left corner.
Paul Cezanne, Boy in a Red Waistcoat, 1888-1890, oil on canvas, Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon, in Honor of the 50th Anniversary of the National Gallery of Art, 1995.47.5

Boy in a Red Waistcoat

Paul Cezanne · 1888-1890 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1995.47.5

We look down on a few dozen people walking along the sidewalks of a wide, sunlit bridge in this almost square painting. The scene is loosely painted, which gives it a hazy, sun-dappled look and makes some details indistinct. The people wear black, white, light blue, or pale green jackets and pants or long dresses as they walk in all directions. Some wear hats, and a few women carry parasols. The bridge opens into a wide boulevard close to us, as the sidewalks angle into the lower corners of the composition. Several horse-drawn carriages move across the bridge alongside the people. The deck of the oyster-white bridge is lined with black gas lamps. The river beneath shimmers with lapis and turquoise blue. The far side is packed with four and five-story buildings, which are mostly tan with rows of windows painted as blue rectangles. The rooflines bristle with chimneys. Another structure or boat sits on the water near the lower right corner of the painting, and a flag with vertical bands of red, white, and blue flies from a flagpole there. Opposite the flag, on the far bank, is a statue of a man on a horse, both on a tall plinth. The horizon comes about halfway up the composition, and the azure-blue sky above is dotted with puffy white clouds tinged with dove gray and mauve. The artist signed and dated the lower left, “A. Renoir. 72.”
Auguste Renoir, Pont Neuf, Paris, 1872, oil on canvas, Ailsa Mellon Bruce Collection, 1970.17.58

Pont Neuf, Paris

Auguste Renoir · 1872 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1970.17.58

This horizontal painting shows a tapestry being unfurled and held up by winged, baby-like putti against a structure with gray and gold columns, seen at the edges of the composition. Taking up most of the composition, the tapestry shows two ranks of men, women, and children gathered behind two central men, who meet at the center. All the people have light or tanned skin, and the bodies we can see are muscular. In the central pair of men, the one to our left, Abraham, faces our right in profile as he holds two loaves of bread. He has a brown beard and short, wavy hair, and dark brows over a prominent nose. He looks at the other man with dark eyes and leans toward him, to our right. Abraham wears an armored breastplate over silver chainmail edged with gold, which falls to mid-thigh. A crimson-red cape wraps around his shoulders and swirls around his back. A sword hangs by his hip, and tan sandals cover his heels and shins. Behind him are seven men and one brown horse, who gnaws at its foreleg. Most of the men are bearded and five wear armored helmets. A cleanshaven man wearing a lavender-purple tunic stands with his arm slung over the horse’s neck, holding the rein between thumb and forefinger. The man to our right, Melchizedek has a long white beard and short white hair. His red cap is encircled with a wreath of dark green leaves. He wears a long-sleeved, waist-length, aquamarine-blue garment over a white skirt. A heavy, golden-yellow cape with a broad, white fur collar and lining drapes over his shoulders, and is supported by at least one attendant. Behind and around Melchizedek are eight men, women, and children, standing near stone, gray ruins. Behind Melchizedek, one portly person wearing a dark pink mantle reaches into a basket of bread held across the shoulders of a blond, bearded, bare-chested man. Closer to us, in the lower right corner of the tapestry, one man wearing a green toga and another wearing blue kneel and sit, holding oversized silver and gold urns, the size of their torsos. The man in blue, to our right, turns to look at us over his shoulder. A third large urn sits near the other man. A view into the landscape with a low, green hill and a pale blue sky is glimpsed between the groups. The tapestry showing this scene curls over at the edges where the pudgy angels lift the top edge. The top right corner of the tapestry wraps around the edge of an unseen feature of the building, next to a gray column that rises the height of the painting up along the right edge. The border of the tapestry is rose pink with stylized gold designs. One putto with brown hair holds up the left corner, and one with light gray hair holds up the middle one arm slung over the front of the tapestry. The third putto, with blond hair, hooks an arm over a leafy garland with fruit that hangs from the cornice near the top center of the composition.
Sir Peter Paul Rubens, The Meeting of Abraham and Melchizedek, c. 1626, oil on panel, Gift of Syma Busiel, 1958.4.1

The Meeting of Abraham and Melchizedek

Sir Peter Paul Rubens · c. 1626 · oil on panel ·  Accession ID  1958.4.1

Seven people with cream-white skin crowd together, sitting at or standing among tables in an interior space in this vertical painting. The composition is dominated by shades of blue and pale green. On the right side and closest to us, a woman sits opposite a man at a butter-yellow table, both facing our left in profile. The table extends in from the right, almost halfway up the canvas. The pair are shown from the knees up and span most of the height of the painting. The woman wears a long, teal-blue jacket over a peanut-brown skirt and a frilled cap topped with a pine-green bow. The man wears an olive-green bowler and cinnamon-brown coat, and rests one arm on the table. Two glasses sit on the table in front of them. In the center of the painting, a woman wearing a long, black coat stands on the far side of the table, her head nearly reaching the top edge of the composition. Her body is angled slightly to our right and she gazes off in that direction. Beyond her is another table with two men partly obscured by the couple in front of us. One sitting at the table has flame-red hair topped with a round cap, and a portion of his aqua and peacock-blue striped jacket is visible. Near him, another person in a dark garment with a high collar stands with their back to us, most of the head cropped by the top edge. Along the left side, two women stand one behind the other with their backs to us. The woman closest to us looks away, wearing a short, parchment-white jacket over an aquamarine-blue skirt. The jacket is belted at the waist and the collar, upper back, and long cuffs are rust red. The woman beyond her turns her head to our right in profile, and wears a light blue jacket and pale green skirt. The features and clothing of each person in the scene is outlined in charcoal gray. The artist signed the painting in the upper right corner, “HTLautrec,” with the H, T, and L interlocking to make a monogram.
Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, A Corner of the Moulin de la Galette, 1892, oil on cardboard, Chester Dale Collection, 1963.10.67

A Corner of the Moulin de la Galette

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec · 1892 · oil on cardboard ·  Accession ID  1963.10.67

A French window with its sill lined with flowerpots opens into a view of boats floating in a body of water in this loosely painted, vibrantly colored, stylized, vertical painting. The doors open inward, and they are painted with coral orange and cranberry red. The wall behind the door to the left is peacock blue and the wall to our right is fuchsia pink, and those colors are reflected in the opposite windows of the doors. Three flowerpots in crimson red, marmalade orange, or royal blue sit on the windowsill in front of us. Foliage in the pots is painted with short strokes of cardinal red and turquoise blue. Over the window, a two-paned transom window pierces a forest-green wall. The view through the panes has a band of salmon pink across the top and dabs of celery green and banana yellow below. The dabs and dashes of pine and lime green continue down the sides of the window and across the sill, suggesting vines growing up around the opening. A band of ultramarine blue beyond the flowerpots could be a balcony. Several rust-orange masts of ships with hulls painted with swipes of indigo blue, flamingo pink, forest green, and marigold orange float in the water beyond. The water is painted with parallel strokes in pale pink and butter yellow. The sky above is painted with thick, wavy lines of steel blue, periwinkle purple, and seafoam green. The artist signed the work in red paint in the lower right, “Henri Matisse.”
Henri Matisse, Open Window, Collioure, 1905, oil on canvas, Collection of Mr. and Mrs. John Hay Whitney, 1998.74.7

Open Window, Collioure

Henri Matisse · 1905 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1998.74.7

Maurice Utrillo, The Pont Saint-Michel, Paris, c. 1908, oil on wood, Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon, 1985.64.40

The Pont Saint-Michel, Paris

Maurice Utrillo · c. 1908 · oil on wood ·  Accession ID  1985.64.40

The image is a watercolor painting depicting four individuals. Two individuals are standing on the left, while two others are seated on the right. One standing person is a man, looking leftward at a woman standing beside him. The man is wearing a black suit and a hat. The woman is facing the man and is wearing a white dress with a blue accent and a matching hat with a blue veil. On the right, two seated women are wearing long dresses and hats, with one in a brown dress and a colorful hat, and the other wearing a dark dress with a yellow shawl. Details of their faces and hair are minimal, and they are set against a light background.
Eugène Boudin, Two Ladies Seated and a Couple Walking on the Beach, c. 1866, watercolor over graphite on wove paper, Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon, 1985.64.77

Two Ladies Seated and a Couple Walking on the Beach

Eugène Boudin · c. 1866 · watercolor over graphite on wove paper ·  Accession ID  1985.64.77