Updated 10 April 2025
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Currently not on display
L'Ébahi (The Surprised)
| Date | c. 1948-52 |
|---|---|
| Materials and Techniques | oil on unconfirmed support (reinforced by or transferred to a plywood-panel) with painted frame |
| Size（cm） | 39.7 x 25.6 (picture only); 60.8 x 46.8 (with frame) |
| Inscriptions | Signed lower right: G.Rouault; Inscribed on back of frame: 1951 (?) / ...Pour petite Ceguette (?) / Rigolboche L'EBAHI |
| Credit Line | Donated by Mr. Ryuzaburo Umehara |
| Standard ref. | Dorival 2428 |
| Category | Paintings |
| Collection Number | P.1977-0005 |
This work, like Lulu, also in the NMWA collection, is typical of Rouault's final years. Rouault's works did not undergo a huge change in terms of subject matter or painting style after the Second World War, but they did exhibit an increasingly thick application of paint. Viewed from a distance, this work has a translucence that appears to radiate light, but when viewed close up, there is a surprising degree of violent pigment applied in thick layers. L'Ébahi is thought to represent a clown, and Rouault had previously addressed this subject in a series of works depicting the circus that he began in the early 1910s. However, here the clown does not exhibit the social irony or darkness seen in Rouault's earlier works and may represent the peaceful spirit of the artist's last years. This is a superb example of the type of face-only image which appears frequently in his later works, and the painted frame which the artist frequently added to these images. (Source: Masterpieces of the National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, 2009, cat. no.115)
Provenance
Ryuzaburo Umehara, Tokyo; Tsuya Umehara, Tokyo, 1957; Donated by Mr. Ryuzaburo Umehara, Tokyo, 1978.
Exhibition History
- 1953
- Rouault, Tokyo National Museum, 0 1953 - 0 1953, cat. no. 58
- 1957
- Seiyo Bijutsu Meisaku Ten (Masterpieces of European Art), Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art, 1 February 1957 - 24 March 1957
- 1997
- Expressiveness of Materials, National Museum of Art, Osaka, 17 April 1997 - 22 June 1997, cat. no. 46
- 2005
- Late Umehara: His Art and Collection, The Shoto Museum of Art, 5 April 2005 - 15 May 2005, cat. no. C-42, col. repr.
- 2016
- Bonjour, Monsieur Renoir: Renoir et Umehara - joie de peindre, Mitsubishi Ichigokan Museum, Tokyo, 19 October 2016 - 9 January 2017, ABENO HARUKAS Art Museum, Osaka, 24 January-26 March, cat. no. 35, col. repr.
Bibliography
- 1979
- The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo: Catalogue of paintings. Tokyo, The National Museum of Western Art, 1979, no. 248, repr.
- 1979
- Annual bulletin of the National Museum of Western Art. No. 12, 1978, Koshi, Koichi. New acquisitions 1977 (Painting). pp. 14-15, New acquisitions (Catalogue). pp. 26-27, repr.
- 1988
- Dorival, Bernard. Rouault: l'œuvre peint. Monte-Carlo, André Sauret, 1988, (vol. 2), p. 252, no. 2428, repr.
- 2005
- Late Umehara: his art and collection(exh. cat.). The Shoto Museum of Art, ed. [Tokyo], The Shoto Museum of Art, 2005, cat. no. C-42, 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. 115, 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. 115, col. repr.
- 2016
- Bonjour, Monsieur Renoir: Renoir et Umehara - joie de peindre (exh. cat.). Mitsubishi Ichigoukan Museum, Tokyo et al., eds. [Tokyo], Curators, 2016, pp. 66, 73, 185, cat. no. 35, col. repr.