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    Museum collections / Art Institute of Chicago
    The Paternal Blessing, or The Departure of Basile
    Jean-Baptiste Greuze. The Paternal Blessing, or The Departure of Basile, c. 1769. The Art Institute of Chicago. Public domain (CC0).
    AT-00004060

    Public data from the Art Institute of Chicago. Learn more

    The Paternal Blessing, or The Departure of Basile

    by Jean-Baptiste Greuze

    Provenance

    General Brunet-Denon (Baron D. Vivant-Denon) [Lugt 779]; sold, Hôtel des Ventes Mobilières, Paris, February 2-15, 1846, lot 186. Lucien Guiraud (died 1954), Paris [according to Joachim 1979]. Sold by Dr. Otto Wertheimer, Paris, to the Art Institute, 1955.

    Exhibition history

    Paris, Salon, 1769. Minneapolis, Minn., The University of Minnesota, University Gallery, "The Eighteenth Century: One Hundred Drawings by One Hundred Artists," 1961, cat. 35. New York, Wildenstein and Company, "Master Drawings from The Art Institute of Chicago," October 17-November 30, 1963, n.p., cat. 56, as "The Return of the Prodigal Son." The Art Institute of Chicago, "Selected Works of 18th Century French Art in the Collections of The Art Institute of Chicago," January 24-March 28, 1976, pp. 62-63, cat. 54 (ill.). Paris, Musée du Louvre, "Dessins français de l’Art Institute de Chicago de Watteau à Picasso," October 15, 1976-January 17, 1977, n.p., cat. 15 (ill.). Frankfurt am Main, Germany, Städtische Galerie im Städelschen Kunstinstitut, "Französische Zeichnungen aus dem Art Institute of Chicago," February 10-April 10, 1977, pp. 56-57, cat. 24 (ill.). The Art Institute of Chicago, "Gods and (Super)heroes: Drawing in an Age of Revolution", November 16, 2017 - April 1, 2018.

    Publications

    Jean Martin, Oeuvre de J.-B. Greuze (Paris, 1908), no. 256. The Art Institute of Chicago Annual Report (1955-1956), p. 21 (ill.). Edgar Munhall, "Greuze and Protestant Spirit," The Art Quarterly, 27 (1964), pp. 3-23 (ill.). Jean Seznec and Jean Adhemar, Salons, 4 (Oxford, 1967), p. 108, no. 46. R. Fernandez, "Greuze's Paternal Blessing," The Art Institute of Chicago Museum Studies, 5 (1970), pp. 91-95 (ill.). Harold Joachim, French Drawings and Sketchbooks of the 18th Century (Chicago, 1979), no. 1E11. Emma Barker, Greuze and the Painting of Sentiment (Cambridge, 2001).

    Quick Overview

    Artist
    Jean-Baptiste Greuze / French, 1725-1805
    Date
    c. 1769
    Medium
    Pen and brown ink, brush and black ink, gray wash and graphite, with traces of scraping, on tan laid paper, laid down on tan wove board
    Dimensions
    37.3 × 50.8 cm (14 11/16 × 20 in.)
    Type
    Drawing
    Classification
    pen and ink drawings
    Place
    France
    Department
    Prints and Drawings
    Credit line
    Gift of Mrs. Leigh B. Block
    Accession no.
    1955.1003

    More by Jean-Baptiste Greuze in museum collections

    • Study of a Groom

      Jean-Baptiste Greuze

      c. 1760 · Drawing

      Public collection via the Art Institute of ChicagoAT-00002474
    • Women and Children Mourning a Dead Man

      Jean-Baptiste Greuze

      1778 · Drawing

      Public collection via the Art Institute of ChicagoAT-00003142
    • Seated Gentleman

      Jean-Baptiste Greuze

      c. 1769 · Drawing

      Public collection via the Art Institute of ChicagoAT-00003231
    • The Notary: A Study for "The Marriage Contract"

      Jean-Baptiste Greuze

      1761 · Drawing

      Public collection via the Art Institute of ChicagoAT-00005769

    Open-access museum data

    This record comes from the open-access collection data that the Art Institute of Chicago publishes for unrestricted use (Creative Commons Zero). Art Trackers shows a selection of the museum's published fields. The Art Institute of Chicago is not an Art Trackers client and has not reviewed or endorsed this page; the museum's own website is the authoritative record.

    • View this work at the Art Institute of Chicago
    • The Art Institute of Chicago: open-access terms

    Data retrieved from the Art Institute of Chicago on October 8, 2026. The museum may have updated its record since.

    Open-access museum record · AT-00004060

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