Updated 26 February 2024
On Display Permanent collection
On Display
The Visitation
Date | 1912 |
---|---|
Materials and Techniques | oil on canvas |
Size(cm) | 77.5 x 164 |
Inscriptions | Signed and dated lower left: G. Desvallières 1912 |
Credit Line | Matsukata Collection |
Standard ref. | M402 |
Category | Paintings |
Collection Number | P.1959-0082 |
Desvallières trained under Gustave Moreau and after the First World War, founded the "Ateliers d'Art Sacré" with Maurice Denis where they strove to revive religious painting in the modern world. This work depicts the Visitation from the first chapter of the Book of Luke. Even in the depiction of this traditional subject, the fresh colors and the figures clothed in contemporary dress seen on the left edge of the composition reveal a new artistic sensibility. (Source: The Digital Gallery. 1999-2006)
Provenance
Galerie E. Druet, Paris, 1913, stock no. 7857 [gallery label on the reverse]; purchased from the above by Kojiro Matsukata, Kobe, ca. December 1921 [see letter from Galerie E. Druet to Léonce Bénédite, dated 13 December 1921, in the Bibliothèque centrale des musées nationaux, Paris (copy in NMWA curatorial file)]; sequestered by French government, 1944; vested in French government under San Francisco Peace Treaty, 1952; transferred from French to Japanese government, 23 January 1959; entered into NMWA, April 1959.
Exhibition History
- 1913
- Salon d'Automne, 0 1913 - 0 1913
- 1960
- The Masterpieces of the Ex-Matsukata Collection, National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, 14 May 1960 - 10 July 1960, cat. no. 34
- 1962
- [Tour Exhibition] The Matsukata Collection of the National Museum of Western Art, The Hakutsuru Museum, Kobe, 20 October 1962 - 5 November 1962, P-129
- 1962
- [Tour Exhibition] The Matsukata Collection of the National Museum of Western Art, The Art Gallery of Aichi Prefecture, Nagoya, 17 November 1962 - 9 December 1962, cat. no. 20 (当館記録による)
- 1963
- The Matsukata Collection of the National Museum of Western Art, The Shimane Prefectural Museum, Matsue, 5 October 1963 - 20 October 1963, P-129
- 1963
- [Tour Exhibition] The Matsukata Collection of the National Museum of Western Art, The Ishibashi Museum of Art, Kurume, 26 October 1963 - 10 November 1963, P-129
- 1964
- [Tour Exhibition] The Matsukata Collection of the National Museum of Western Art, The Nakajima Sports Center of Hokkaido Prefecture, 22 August 1964 - 13 September 1964, cat. no. 50
- 1965
- [Tour Exhibition] The Matsukata Collection of the National Museum of Western Art, The Ishikawa Prefectural Museum of Art, Kanazawa, 22 September 1965 - 10 October 1965, cat. no. 32
- 1965
- [Tour Exhibition] The Matsukata Collection of the National Museum of Western Art, The Cultural Center of Okayama Prefecture, Okayama, 20 October 1965 - 7 November 1965, cat. no. 32
- 1966
- [Tour Exhibition] The Matsukata Collection of the National Museum of Western Art, The Wakayama Prefectural Museum of Art, Wakayama, 15 October 1966 - 4 November 1966, cat. no. 26
- 1966
- [Tour Exhibition] The Matsukata Collection of the National Museum of Western Art, The Cultural Center of Oita Prefecture, Oita, 12 November 1966 - 27 November 1966, cat. no. 26
- 1970
- [Tour Exhibition] The Matsukata Collection of the National Museum of Western Art, Nagasaki Prefectural Museum, Nagasaki, 18 October 1970 - 15 November 1970, cat. no. 22
- 1990
- [Tour Exhibition] The French Modern Art, from the National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, Ibara Municipal Denchu Art Museum, 10 April 1990 - 23 April 1990, cat. no. 20
- 1990
- [Tour Exhibition] The French Modern Art, from the National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, The Cultural Center of Kagawa Prefecture, Takamatsu, 28 April 1990 - 13 May 1990, cat. no. 20
- 1990
- [Tour Exhibition] The French Modern Art, from the National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, The Cultural Center of Toyota City, 19 May 1990 - 3 June 1990, cat. no. 20
- 1991
- [Tour Exhibition] The French Modern Art, from the National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, The Hachinohe City Museum of Art, 28 September 1991 - 27 October 1991, cat. no. 14
- 1991
- [Tour Exhibition] The French Modern Art, from the National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, The Tendo City Museum of Art, Tendo, 1 November 1991 - 24 November 1991, cat. no. 14
- 1992
- [Tour Exhibition] The French Modern Art, from the National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, The Urasoe Art Museum, 3 November 1992 - 7 December 1992, cat. no. 14
Bibliography
- 1913
- Hautecœur, L. Les Salons de 1913. Gazette des Beaux-Arts. ser. 4, tome 10, 1913, p. 500, repr. p. 504.
- 1955
- La Collection Matsukata, Tokyo, Asahi- Shimbun, 1955 (Japanese), no. 56, repr.
- 1961
- Catalogue du Musée National d'Art Occidental, Tokyo. Tokyo, The National Museum of Western Art, 1961 (Préface and Catalogue Général in Japanese and French), P-129.
- 1971
- Les cent chefs-d'œuvre du Musée National d'Art Occidental. Tokyo, The National Museum of Western Art, 1971 (Japanese), no. 25, repr.
- 1975
- Les cent chefs-d'œuvre du Musée National d'Art Occidental. Tokyo, The National Museum of Western Art, 1975 (Japanese), no. 69, repr.
- 1978
- Masterpieces of the National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo. Tokyo, The National Museum of Western Art, 1978 (Japanese, preface in Japanese and English), no. 74, repr.
- 1979
- The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo: Catalogue of Paintings. Tokyo, The National Museum of Western Art, 1979, no. 106, repr.
- 1990
- The Old Matsukata Collection. Kobe City Museum, ed. Kobe, "Matsukata Korekushon Ten" Jikkoiinkai, 1990, cat. no. 590.
- 1992
- The French Modern Art, from The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo (exh. cat.). The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, ed. Okinawa, Urasoe Art Museum, 1992, p.24, cat. no. 14, col. repr
- 2003
- Ambroselli, Catherine, et al. George Desvallières et le Salon d'automne. Paris, Somogy, c2003, pp. 122-123, 129, repr.
- 2018
- The Matsukata Collection: Complete Catalogue of the European Art. Kawaguchi, Masako; Jingaoka, Megumi, eds. vol. 1: Paintings, Tokyo, The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, 2018, cat. no. 402, col. repr.