Public collection via the Cleveland Museum of Art
AT-00009847The Gardener
About the Artwork
This whimsical series is one typically found in fashionable, elite Parisian residences of the eighteenth century. Panel paintings of this variety were created to decorated the space above chair rails and in between doors and windows, and Lancret's series was painted for a room in the Pavillon d'Hauteville in Paris. In keeping with the eighteenth-century French tradition of depicting the four seasons or the times of the day, Lancret's five decorative panels have a unifying theme. Pastoral activities and games, favored themes of Lancret, are the overarching motifs, and depict afternoon pastimes, set in nature. Three of the panels, The Swing, The See Saw, and The Vintage,depict lithe, youthful duets playfully engaging in the outdoor pleasures, while the narrower panels, The Gardener and Horticulture, host individual figures cultivating lush, private gardens. Despite the disparate subjects, stylistic details unify the series, including the delicate arabesques derived from nature that frame the scenes, and similar flora and fauna in each panel.
Provenance
Viscount Pierre de Chezelles and Vicomte Hippolyte le Sellier de Chezelles by 1926 - at least 1933: Lord Duveen, 1869 - 1939 (London, England) about 1935-36-1942: Mr. 'Commodore' Louis Dudley Beaumont (1857-1942) and Mrs. Beaumont (Helene M. Thomas) (1895-1988), Cap d’Antibes, France 1942-1948: Louis Dudley Beaumont Foundation, by gift to the Cleveland Museum of Art, 1948. 1948-: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
Exhibition history
Decorative Style. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 8, 1961-January 7, 1962). Highlights of the Rococo: Norweb Ceramics and Related Arts. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 8, 1983-June 3, 1984).
Data retrieved from the Cleveland Museum of Art on October 8, 2026. The museum may have updated its record since.
Quick Overview
- Artist
- Nicolas Lancret (French, 1690–1743)
- Date
- c. 1723–27
- Medium
- oil on canvas
- Dimensions
- Framed: 157 x 43 x 5.5 cm (61 13/16 x 16 15/16 x 2 3/16 in.); Unframed: 151 x 36.5 cm (59 7/16 x 14 3/8 in.)
- Type
- Painting
- Classification
- Painting
- Department
- European Painting and Sculpture
- Credit line
- Gift of the Louis Dudley Beaumont Foundation
- Accession no.
- 1948.176.1
More by Nicolas Lancret in museum collections
Open-access museum record · AT-00009847
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