- Still Life with a Leg of Lamb
Frame: 22 7/8 × 20 1/8 × 3 1/2 in. (58.1 × 51.1 × 8.9 cm)
Explore Further
Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin began his career as a painter of still lifes, and Still Life with Leg of Lamb is one of his earliest paintings of humble kitchen objects. Although he also specialized in scenes from everyday life, Chardin continued to paint still lifes to the end of his career.
Here, Chardin imparts a sense of dignity—which his contemporaries typically reserved for seemingly more-worthy subjects—to everyday kitchen items. The harmonious relationship between a few simple objects or figures brings a sense of tranquility to all of Chardin's work. To the students who came to him for advice, Chardin responded: "Sirs, sirs, gentleness!"
Provenance[Sculptor Edmé Bouchardon sale, Paris, September 13, 1808, lot 33]; English collection, by 1832 [1]; Collection of the Canon Milford, Oxford, England, until around 1963; Cailleux collection, Paris; Private collection, France (possibly Dr. J. Weyl-Aubret, Brest); [Aguttes Hôtel des Ventes, Clermont-Ferrand, May 1, 1987, lot 387]; [Masters Investment Limited]; purchased by the Sarah Campbell Blaffer Foundation, 1992.
[1] Per an old inscription on the back of the painting.
Exhibition History"Chardin," Galeries nationales du Grand Palais, Paris, September 7–November 22, 1999; Kunstmuseum am Ehrenhof, Düsseldorf, Germany, December 5, 1999–February 28, 2000; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, June 19–September 3, 2000.
"Still Life Paintings from the Sarah Campbell Blaffer Foundation," Ellen Noël Art Museum, Odessa, Texas, January 5–March 9, 2008.
"Chardin," Mistubishi Ichigokan Museum, Tokyo, September 8, 2012–January 6, 2013.
"Through Vincent's Eyes: Van Gogh and His Sources," Columbus Museum of Art, Ohio, November 12, 2021–February 6, 2022; Santa Barbara Museum of Art, California, February 27–May 22, 2022.
Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks
Cataloguing data may change with further research.
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