Moreau is a 19th century French artist considered the pioneer of Symbolism. Although literary sources of the theme of "a sacred elephant" are unclear, it would appear to be based on the Hindu belief. This work is a fine example conveying Moreau's delicate and gallant mastership of watercolour. Particularly the way one colour is applied over another on the ornament on the elephant's head is a technique frequently employed in Moreau's watercolours of the 1880s. The transparent expression of the plants on both sides is similar to the effect identifiable in the upper panel of "La vie de l'humanité" (1886). The effect of the estrangement of the line drawing and the colouring was also applied to the highly experimental techniques employed in "Les Licornes"(1886). (Source: The Digital Gallery. 1999-2006)

Provenance

Galerie Goupil; Charles Hayem; Alfred Baillehache; Private collection; sale Drouot Montaigne, Paris, 1990; Société Dianard; purchased 1995.

Exhibition History

1996

The Crossing Visions: European and Modern Japanese Art from the Collections of The National Museum of Western Art & The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, 20 July 1996 - 8 September 1996, cat. no. 80

1998

Gustave Moreau: 1826-1898, Galeries nationales du Grand Palais, Paris, 29 September 1998 - 4 January 1999, The Art Institute of Chicago, 13 February-25 April

2000

Tanka at the National Museum of Western Art: An Encounter between Poet and Art, National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, 25 July 2000 - 29 October 2000, cat. no. 80

2001

French Masterpiece Drawings from The National Museum of Western Art Collection, National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, 27 March 2001 - 24 June 2001

2010

Modern Drawings from the National Museum of Western Art：Selections from the Matsukata Collection and Post-1959 Acquisitions, 23 February 2010 - 30 May 2010, 18

Bibliography

1889

Leprieur, Paul. Gustave Moreau et son œuvre. Paris, 1889, p. 51.

1889

Huysmans, Jolis-Karles. Certains. Paris, 1889

1906

Montesquiou, Robert de. "Un peintre lapidaire: Gustave Moreau". Gustave Moreau (exh. cat.). Paris, Georges Petit, 1906, p. 20.

1976

Mathieu, Pierre-Louis. Gustave Moreau, sa vie, son œuvre: catalogue raisonné de l'œuvre achevé. Fribourg, 1976, no. 325.

1991

Mathieu, Pierre-Louis. Tout l'œuvre peint de Gustave Moreau. Paris, 1991, no. A11, repr.

1997

Annual bulletin of the National Museum of Western Art. Nos. 29-30 (April 1994-March 1996), 1997, Kitazaki, Chikashi. New Acquisitions. pp. 16-19, List of New Acquisitions. p. 38, col. repr.

1997

Kitazaki, Chikashi. Orient as Fragments - The Structure of Quotation in Gustave Moreau's 《Eléphant Sacré》. Journal of the National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo. no. 1, 1997, pp. 50-65, 89-90, repr. [with English Abstract]

1998

Gustave Moreau 1826-1898 (exh. cat.). Galeries nationales du Grand Palais, Paris, 29 September 1998 - 4 January 1999; The Art Institute, Chicago, 13 February - 25 April 1999; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 24 May - 22 August 1999. Paris, c1998, cat. no. 101