Public collection via the Cleveland Museum of Art
AT-00010963Costumed Dancers Performing in a Garden Tavern
by Gabriel Jacques de Saint-Aubin
Also known as: Fête in a Park with Costumed Dancers
About the Artwork
Gabriel de Saint-Aubin was known for his rapidly executed, sketchy style, often used to depict performances and social scenes. The exaggerated lifted legs of the dancers seen here imply a comic, theatrical style; no social dance during the 18th century would have permitted such pronounced gestures, especially for a woman. Both dancers wear jackets with irregular hemlines decorated with round bells similar to those found on jesters’ costumes. The lanterns and swags of flowers strung from trees and the small orchestra playing on the right suggest a guinguette, or outdoor tavern with a pleasure garden.
Inscriptions
lower left, in brown ink: 17[60?]; lower left, in graphite: G de St Aubin [partially cut off]; verso, visible through transmitted light, lower left: [aif?]; lower left: Fragonard; lower right: 22 / [illegible] / 22; verso of secondary support, center, in graphite: N
Provenance
?-at least 1951: John S. Thacher [1904-1982], Cambridge, Massachusetts, and Washington ?-by 1966: Member of the Rothschild family 1966: (Rosenberg & Stiebel, Inc., New York, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH) 1966-: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
Exhibition history
Golden Anniversary of Acquisitions. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 10-October 16, 1966). French Master Drawings of the 17th and 18th Centuries in North American Collections. Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco, Legion of Honor, San Francisco, CA (September 2-October 15, 1972); Art Gallery of Ontario, Ontario M5T 1G4, Canada (organizer) (September 2-October 15, 1972); National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, Ont.,, Canada (November 3-December 17, 1972); The New York Cultural Center, New York, NY (April 4-May 13, 1973). Prints and Drawings by Gabriel de Saint-Aubin, 1724-1780. Wesleyan University, Middletown, CT (March 7-April 13, 1975); The Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore, MD (organizer) (April 25-June 8, 1975). Northern European Drawings from the Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 16, 1982-January 9, 1983). National Schools of Style. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 14-September 18, 1983). Treasures on Paper. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (May 10-July 24, 1988). Rococo, Revolution, Restoration. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (July 11-September 24, 1989). French Drawings from the Collection. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (December 13, 1994-March 12, 1995). Master Drawings from the Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (August 27-October 17, 2000); The Morgan Library & Museum, New York, NY (May 23-August 19, 2001); Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Houston, TX (October 14, 2001-January 6, 2002). Gabriel de Saint-Aubin. Frick Collection, New York, NY (organizer) (October 30, 2007-January 27, 2008). Themes and Variations: Musical Drawings and Prints. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (January 25-May 17, 2015).
Data retrieved from the Cleveland Museum of Art on October 8, 2026. The museum may have updated its record since.
Quick Overview
- Artist
- Gabriel de Saint-Aubin (French, 1724–1780)
- Date
- 1756
- Medium
- brush and brown and gray wash, with gouache, watercolor, and traces of graphite
- Dimensions
- Sheet: 19.8 x 31.3 cm (7 13/16 x 12 5/16 in.)
- Type
- Drawing
- Classification
- Drawing
- Department
- Drawings
- Credit line
- Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund
- Accession no.
- 1966.124
More by Gabriel Jacques de Saint-Aubin in museum collections
Public collection via the Art Institute of Chicago
AT-00002969
Gabriel de Saint-Aubin Executing the Portrait of the Bishop of Chartres
Gabriel Jacques de Saint-Aubin1768 · Drawing
Public collection via the Art Institute of Chicago
AT-00003077
The Entrance of the Academy of Architecture at the Louvre
Gabriel Jacques de Saint-Aubin1779 · Drawing
Public collection via the Art Institute of Chicago
AT-00003232
Public collection via the Art Institute of Chicago
AT-00004308
Open-access museum record · AT-00010963
Powered by Art Trackers