The Luncheon on the Grass

c. 1865

Claude Monet

Associated Names
Claude Monet

Artist, French, 1840 - 1926

This is a drawing of people in a wooded landscape. The scene depicts a group of people gathered in a forest setting, with tall trees and rough terrain suggested by the lines in the background. On the left, two people stand together in long dresses, facing away from us, while other people appear to be sitting or reclining on the ground. In the center, there appear to be several indistinct objects laid on a rectangular cloth or surface on the ground. The sketch is rendered in black lines on light blue paper.

Media Options

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    black chalk on blue laid paper

  • Credit Line

    Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon

  • Dimensions

    overall: 30.5 x 46.8 cm (12 x 18 7/16 in.)

  • Accession Number

    1995.47.60

  • Catalogue Raisonné

    Wildenstein 1974, undescribed

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Jean-Frederic Bazille; by inheritance to his nephew, Frederic Bazille; Mr. and Mrs. Richard S. Davis, Minneapolis, MN; Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon, Upperville, VA; gift to NGA, 1995.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1957

  • Claude Monet. A Loan Exhibition. City Art Museum of St. Louis, and Minneapolis Institute of Arts, 1957, no. 98.

1958

  • French Drawings from American Collections. Clouet to Matisse. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (previously presented in Rotterdam, Museum Boymans-van Beuningen, and Paris, Musée de l'Orangerie, 1958-1959, no. 173.

1997

  • Building a Collection, National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1997-1998, no. 40.

1999

  • An Enduring Legacy: Masterpieces from the Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon, National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1999-200 (no catalogue).

2005

  • Monet und Camille: Frauenportraits im Impressionismus, Kunsthalle Bremen, 2005-2006, no. 7.

  • "Monet und Camille: Frauenportraits im Impressionismus" ("Monet and Camille: Portraits of Women in Impressionism"), Kunsthalle Bremen, 2005-2006, no. 7.

2007

  • "The Unknown Monet: Pastels and Drawings", Royal Academy of Arts, London; Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, Williamstown, 2007, no. 88.

  • The Unknown Monet, Pastels and Drawings, Royal Academy of Arts, London, and Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, Williamstown, Mass., 99, 302, fig. 88.

2012

  • Impressionism: Pastels, Watercolors, Drawings. Albertina, Vienna, 2012 (not in catalogue).

2016

  • In Celebration of Paul Mellon, NGA, 2016.

Bibliography

1948

  • Sarraute, Gabriel. "Catalogue de l'oeuvre de Frédéric Bazille. Thèse soutenue par M. Arraute. M. Cassou, professeur." Musées de France (October 1948): 236.

1958

  • Sarraute, Gabriel. "Contribution à l'étude du Déjeuner sur l'herbe de Monet," Bulletin du Laboratoire du Musée du Louvre (June 1958): 46, 48, fig. 11 (as location unknown).

1972

  • Isaacson, Joel. "Monet: Le Déjeuner sur l'herbe." Art in Context (1972): 59-62, note 83, fig. 32.

1980

  • Hommage a Claude Monet (1840-1926). Grand Palais, 1980, 59, under nos. 5-7.

1996

  • Conisbee, Philip, and Margaret Morgan Grasselli. "Recent Additions to the Collections: Paintings, Drawings, Prints, and Sculptures from the Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon," Circle Bulletin, no. 15, Spring, 1996, n.p. (reprod.).

2012

  • Grasselli, Margaret Morgan, and Andrew Robison. Color, Line, Light: French Drawings, Watercolors, and Pastels from Delacroix to Signac. Exh. cat. Musée des impressionnismes Giverny and National Gallery of Art. Washington, 2012: 79, fig. 6 (color)

Watermarks

Michallet

Wikidata ID

Q64540142

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