Provenance
Mme. Forain [née Jeanne Bosc, 1865-1954]. Armand François Paul des Friches, comte Doria [1824-1896], Château d'Orrouy.[1] (Arthur Tooth and Sons, London); sold 10 December 1965 to Mr. Paul Mellon, Upperville, VA;[2] gift 1985 to NGA.
[1] The names of Mme. Forain and comte Doria are given in the Mellon collection records, in NGA curatorial files. However, it is not certain this information is correct. If the painting was executed in 1896, and owned by comte Doria, it would have to have been completed prior to May 7 of that year, when the comte died. The painting was not included in the posthumous sale of his collection held at Galerie Georges Petit in Paris in May 1899.
[2] According to Paul Mellon records in NGA curatorial files, this painting was exhibited at the Galerie Pigalle in Paris in 1931, presumably at the Forain exhibition held December 1931 to January 1932.
Accession Number
1985.64.19
Medium
oil on canvas
Dimensions
overall: 95.5 x 101 cm (37 5/8 x 39 3/4 in.) | framed: 121 x 126.1 x 7 cm (47 5/8 x 49 5/8 x 2 3/4 in.)
Classification
Painting
Credit Line
Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon
Tags
Painting Impressionist & Modern (1851–1900) Oil Painting Canvas French
Background & Context
Background Story
This surprisingly gentle painting shows a side of Forain that his satirical work often conceals. The artist's wife, Métalin, stands fishing in a sunlit landscape, her figure rendered with the same rapid brushwork that Forain brought to his racetrack scenes but with an uncharacteristic tenderness. The painting's informality — a private moment observed without satire or social commentary — reveals Forain as a husband and painter rather than a wit and journalist. It is one of his most purely beautiful works.
Cultural Impact
Forain married Métalin (Jeanne Rosalind Bosc) in the 1880s, and she appears in many of his domestic scenes. These paintings of private life provide a necessary counterpoint to the public satires, showing that the same artist who skewered Parisian hypocrisy also cherished ordinary happiness.
Why It Matters
The Artist's Wife Fishing is Forain's secret: that the man who made his reputation exposing the follies of Parisian society also knew how to be happy and how to paint happiness.
