The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of March 29, 2024

Kitchen Utensils with Leeks, Fish, and Eggs

Kitchen Utensils with Leeks, Fish, and Eggs

c. 1734
(French, 1699–1779)
Framed: 52.5 x 60.5 x 7.5 cm (20 11/16 x 23 13/16 x 2 15/16 in.); Unframed: 32.2 x 40.7 cm (12 11/16 x 16 in.)

Description

Chardin was already famous by 1730, when he began to paint small, sparse still lifes of kitchen utensils. He often used the same elements in his compositions, varying slightly the position of the objects and adding or subtracting a utensil—always carefully placing each in relation to the rest to achieve a balanced design. Chardin was the contemporary of François Boucher (1703–1770) and he taught Jean-Honoré Fragonard (1732–1806), but his work is a contrast to theirs, representing the naturalistic tendency that persisted alongside the more fashionable lightness, grace, and playfulness of the Rococo. Chardin discovered a hidden poetry in even the most humble objects, bringing the viewer into an earthly world experienced with directness and simplicity.
  • Possibly until 1922
    Probably Baron Maurice Sigismund Sulzbach [1853-1922], Paris, France
    -1979
    Charlotte de Castellan, Comtesse de Forges
    1980
    (David Carritt, Ltd., London, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
    1980-
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Ohio
  • Rosenberg, Pierre, Jean Baptiste Siméon Chardin, and Sally W. Goodfellow. Chardin, 1699-1779: A Special Exhibition Organized by the Réunion Des Musées Nationaux, Paris, the Cleveland Museum of Art, and Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1979. cat. no. 40
    Lee, Sherman E. “The Year in Review for 1980.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 68, no. 6 (1981). cat. 33 www.jstor.org
    Gazette des Beaux Arts, (March 1981). p. 34, fig. 186
    Chardin, Jean Baptiste Siméon, and Pierre Rosenberg. L'opera completa di Chardin. Milano: Rizzoli, 1983. p. 84 fig. 74
    Sotheby's (Firm). Old Master Paintings: Day. London: Sotheby's, 2006.
    Christie, Manson & Woods. Important rhinoceros horn and jade carvings from a distinguished European collection. London: Christie's, 2011.
  • Masterworks from The Phillips Collection. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 20-May 29, 2005).
    Conserving the Past for the Future. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (March 4-May 6, 2001).
    Year in Review: 1980. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (June 24-July 19, 1981).
    Chardin, 1699-1779, Grand Palais, Paris, France (January 29-April 30, 1979); Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (June 6-Aug. 12, 1979); Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA (September 11- November 19, 1979).
  • {{cite web|title=Kitchen Utensils with Leeks, Fish, and Eggs|url=false|author=Jean-Siméon Chardin|year=c. 1734|access-date=29 March 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1980.37