In the Forest

Description

With its beautifully rendered trees, grassy slopes, and water bathed in late afternoon sunlight, this painting clearly suggests Nanteuil's love of nature. In 1837 he wrote to a friend: "I often spend several hours . . . looking at beautiful plants with large leaves, cut out like sumptuous lace, tall grasses in ponds, their color silky and the beautiful reflections they make in the water, the little flowers with thousands of colours the ground is embroidered with, all provide me with a source of enjoyment." Although the forest Nanteuil described seems very real, his painting includes a satyr. Seated on a stone near a stream, the half human, half goat mythological figure seems lost in the music he plays upon his pipes. Nanteuil is most famous for his lithographs and etchings; paintings by the artist are rather rare.

Provenance

Private collection, France. Paris sale, Drouot room 4, 23 November 1973, Hubert Maringe Commissaire-priseur. Galerie André Watteau, Paris. Mr. and Mrs. Noah L. Butkin, Cleveland. Given to the CMA on 20 October 1977.

In the Forest

Célestin François Nanteuil

1841

Accession Number

1977.125

Medium

oil on fabric

Dimensions

Framed: 123.2 x 155.6 x 12.7 cm (48 1/2 x 61 1/4 x 5 in.); Unframed: 97 x 129.8 cm (38 3/16 x 51 1/8 in.)

Classification

Painting

Museum

The Cleveland Museum of Art

Cleveland, United States

Credit Line

Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Noah L. Butkin