Public collection via the Cleveland Museum of Art
AT-00009226A Painter
About the Artwork
Meissonier often depicted artists and musicians of the 1600s and 1700s engaged in their work. This artist is busy painting a small canvas depicting a nymph and satyr. The artist’s 18th-century costume—nearly 100 years out of date at the time of the painting’s creation—transforms the scene into a charming historical fiction. Meissonier exhibited the painting at the Paris Salon of 1857.
Inscriptions
Signed lower right: EMeissonier. 1855 [EM in monogram]
Provenance
1861: Countess Lehon [1808-1880], Paris, France, her sale, April 2-3,1861, lot 10, sold to Vente X . . . de Vienne 1861-1871: Vente X . . . de Vienne, 1861, (possibly Georg Plach [1818-1885], Vienna, Austria by 1871: G. Simpson, by 1871 1883-1884: John Grant Morris [1811-1897], Allerton Priory, Liverpool, United Kingdom,1883, sold to Samuel P. Avery by 1884: (Samuel P. Avery, New York, NY, by 1884, sold to William H. Vanderbilt) William H. Vanderbuilt [1821-1885], New York, NY, by descent to his son, George W. Vanderbuilt George W. Vanderbilt [1862-1914], New York, NY, by descent to Cornelius Vanderbilt III 1919-1945: Cornelius Vanderbilt III [1983-1942], New York, NY by descent to his widow, Mrs. Cornelius Vanderbilt III 1945: Mrs. Cornelius Vanderbilt III, his widow', [1870-1953], New York, NY, consigned to Parke-Bernet for sale 1945: (Parke-Bernet Galleries, New York, NY, April 18-19, 1945, sold to Mrs. Derek Spence) 1945-1976: Mrs. Derek Spence [1905-1984], New York, NY, February 1976, consigned to Hammer Gallery 1976: (Hammer Gallery, New York, NY, July 1976, sold to Shepherd Gallery) 1976: (Shephard Gallery, New York, NY, July 1976, sold to Mr. and Mrs. Noah L. Butkin) 1976-1982: Mrs. Noah L. Butkin [1915-2008], Shaker Heights, OH, given to the Cleveland Museum of Art 1982-: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
Exhibition history
The Year in Review for 1983. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 22-April 8, 1984). Ernest Meissonier: Rétrospective. Musée des Beaux-Arts de Lyon, 69001 Lyon, France (organizer) (March 25-June 27, 1993).
Data retrieved from the Cleveland Museum of Art on October 8, 2026. The museum may have updated its record since.
Quick Overview
- Artist
- Ernest Meissonier (French, 1815–1891)
- Date
- 1855
- Medium
- oil on mahogany
- Dimensions
- Framed: 39 x 33.5 x 6.5 cm (15 3/8 x 13 3/16 x 2 9/16 in.); Unframed: 27 x 21.1 cm (10 5/8 x 8 5/16 in.)
- Type
- Painting
- Classification
- Painting
- Department
- Modern European Painting and Sculpture
- Credit line
- Gift of Mrs. Noah L. Butkin
- Accession no.
- 1982.247
More by Jean-Louis-Ernest Meissonier in museum collections
Open-access museum record · AT-00009226
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