Updated 15 May 2025
On Display Permanent collection
On Display
Landscape with Shepherds and Flock of Sheep
| Date | c. 1763-65 |
|---|---|
| Materials and Techniques | oil on canvas |
| Size（cm） | 52 x 73 |
| Credit Line | Purchased |
| Standard ref. | Cuzin 109 |
| Category | Paintings |
| Collection Number | P.2000-0001 |
The painter Jean-Honoré Fragonard was a master of the eighteenth-century French Rococo style. This work was one of a series of landscapes he produced immediately after returning to France from studying in Rome. The lively atmosphere pervading the picture bespeaks of his time in Italy, whereas the details of delicate sunlight breaking through clouds and light effects playing over the shepherds show the influence of Dutch landscape painting. The brilliance of the soft colors and brushwork usher us completely into the world of eighteenth-century painting. (Source: Gallery label, July 2016)
Provenance
Paris, Vente, 15 novembre 1779, lot 35 (?); Paris, Vent Saint, 4 mai 1846, lot 75 (?); Paris, Vente Mme D., 13 novembre 1860, lot 10 bis; Camille Marcille, Paris (son cachet est apposé au dos de la toile, Lugt 605a); Paris, Vente Marquis d'Ivry, 31 mars 1914, lot 60; Louis Renault, Paris; Didier Aaron & Cie, Paris; Purchased by the NMWA, 2001.
Exhibition History
- 2012
- Hubert Robert: Les jardins du Temps, The National Museum of Western Art, 6 March 2012 - 20 May 2012, cat. no. 55
- 2021
- National Touring Exhibition of Western Art from the NMWA: When Here and Afar Meet: Western Art in Yamagata / Western Art in Takaoka, Yamagata Museum of Art, 17 July 2021 - 27 August 2021, Takaoka Art Museum, 10 September-24 October 2021, cat. no. Y2_56 | T2_59
Bibliography
- 1899
- Portalis, B. Honoré Fragonard, sa vie et son œuvre. Paris, 1899, P. 284.
- 1960
- Wildenstein, G. The Paintings of Fragonard. Aylesbury, 1960, p. 226, no.125, reproduced fig. 77.
- 1972
- Mandel, G. L'opera completa di Fragonard. Milano, 1972, no. 175, repr.
- 1987
- Cuzin, J.-P. Jean-Honoré Fragonard. Fribourg, 1987, p. 75, repr. fig. 98, p. 279, no. 109.
- 1988
- Cuzin, Jean-Pierre. Jean-Honoré Fragonard: life and work: complete catalogue of the oil paintings. New York, Abrams, 1988, p. 75, repr. fig. 98, p. 280, no. 109.
- 1988
- Fragonard (exh. cat.). Rosenberg, P. Grand Palais, Paris, Metropolitan Museum, New York, 1988-89, p. 185, repr. fig. 3.
- 2002
- New Acquisitions. Annual bulletin of the National Museum of Western Art. No. 35 (Apr. 2000-Mar. 2001), 2002, Takahashi, Akiya. pp. 11-13, List of New Acquisitions. p. 35, col. repr.
- 2006
- Masterpieces of The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo. Tokyo, The National Museum of Western Art; Tokyo, The Western Art Foundation, 2006 (Japanese, preface in Japanese and English), no. 52, col. repr.
- 2009
- Masterpieces of The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo. Tokyo, The National Museum of Western Art; Tokyo, The Western Art Foundation, 2009, no. 52, col. repr.
- 2012
- Hubert Robert: Les jardins du Temps (exh. cat.). The National Museum of Western Art; Fukuoka Art Museum; Shizuoka Prefectural Museum of Art; The Tokyo Shimbun, eds. [Tokyo/ Fukuoka/ Shizuoka], The National Museum of Western Art; Western Art Foundation; Fukuoka Art Museum; Shizuoka Prefectural Museum of Art; The Tokyo Shimbun, 2012, pp. 136-137, 306, cat. no. 55, col. repr.
- 2013
- Masterpieces: The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo. Tokyo, The Western Art Foundation, 2013 (Japanese, preface in Japanese and English), no. 66, col. repr.
- 2021
- When Here and Afar Meet: Western Art in Yamagata/Western Art in Takaoka (exh. cat.). Shinfuji, Atsushi, ed. Tokyo, The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, 2021, pp. 93, 180, cat. no. Y2_56 | T2_59, col. repr.