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The Fox and the Turkey Hens
Also known as: The Fox and the Turkey Hens: Illustration for the Fables of La Fontaine
About the Artwork
This drawing depicts a fable about turkeys whose anxieties about falling victim to a fox ultimately make them susceptible to the predator. It was one of 276 designs produced by Jean-Baptiste Oudry related to humorous but educational stories compiled by French poet Jean de La Fontaine in the later 1600s. Published in four luxurious volumes between 1755 and 1759, The Fables of La Fontaine withOudry’s illustrations was one of the most ambitious publishing projects of the artist’s time. The books were art objects meant to be collected more than read, but they were successful enough that they were reissued several times in later centuries.
Inscriptions
signed, lower right, in brown ink: JB. Oudry / 1733; VERSO, upper center, in brown ink: 103.
Provenance
collection of the artist c. 1751: Montenault by 1828: the bothers De Bure 1853: [sale of J.-J. De Bure, 1853, no. 344] Adolphe Thibaudeau [Solar sale, 1860, no. 627] c. 1876: Morgand, Paris M. Roederer, Reims c. 1930: Rosenbach, New York Private collection, New York all according to Opperman 1977, p. 683: collection of the artist; c. 1751sold to Montenault (not in Lugt). the bothers De Bure, by 1828 (not in Lugt); [sale of J.-J. De Bure, 1853, no. 344] (no sale listed by Lugt); Adolphe Thibaudeau (no article in Lugt, but see under 2473). [Solar sale, 1860, no. 627] (sale not cited by Lugt). Morgand, Paris, c. 1876 (not in Lugt); M. Roederer, Reims (not in Lugt); Rosenbach, New York, c. 1930 (not in Lugt); Private collection, New York. [Claus Virch]
Exhibition history
Year in Review: 1977. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (December 28, 1977-January 22, 1978). Brush Drawings. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (March 3-May 10, 1981). French Prints and Drawings in the Age of the Bourbons, 1589-1792. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 2-May 16, 1982). Paper: The Continuous Thread. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (August 31-October 24, 1982). Nocturnal Impressions. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 20-May 12, 1985). French Drawings from the Collection. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (December 13, 1994-March 12, 1995). Fairy Tales and Fables: Illustration and Storytelling in Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (May 4-September 8, 2024).
Quick Overview
- Artist
- Jean-Baptiste Oudry (French, 1686–1755)
- Date
- 1733
- Medium
- brush and black ink and gray wash heightened with white gouache, blue ink in margin; framing lines in brown ink
- Dimensions
- Image: 24 x 18.8 cm (9 7/16 x 7 3/8 in.); Sheet: 31 x 26 cm (12 3/16 x 10 1/4 in.)
- Type
- Drawing
- Classification
- Drawing
- Department
- Drawings
- Credit line
- John L. Severance Fund
- Accession no.
- 1977.93
More by Jean Baptiste Oudry in museum collections
Data retrieved from the Cleveland Museum of Art on October 8, 2026. The museum may have updated its record since.
Open-access museum record · AT-00011037
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