Return of the Drove

Artist Jean-Honoré Fragonard (French, 1732–1806)

Dateabout 1768–1770

Mediumoil on canvas

Dimensionscanvas: 64.1 × 80 cm (25 1/4 × 31 1/2 in.)
framed: 89.5 × 105.4 × 9.5 cm (35 1/4 × 41 1/2 × 3 3/4 in.)

ClassificationsPaintings

Credit LineTheodore T. and Mary G. Ellis Collection

Terms

canvas

Object number1940.62

Label TextThis canvas demonstrates how strongly the 18th-century French painter Fragonard was influenced by 17th-century Dutch painters. The twisted tree with delicate leaves set against a cloudy sky is reminiscent of compositions by Jacob van Ruisdael (Dutch, 1628–1682), and the pair of white cattle suggest his knowledge of Aelbert Cuyp's (Dutch, 1620–1690) paintings of cows. Fragonard would have had the opportunity to see examples of Dutch landscapes, as they were collected widely by the French in the late 18th century. Fragonard is perhaps best known for his genre paintings (scenes of everyday life) with erotic content, and element that is present here though less overt and at times violent than in other compositions. The pastoral calm of the setting contradicts the interaction at its center, in which a man pursues a woman who rejects his unwanted advances.ProvenancePossibly Hippolyte Walferdin (d. 1880); purchased by Feral, Hotel Drouot sale, lot 55, April 12-16, 1880; collection of the Marquise d’Harcourt, by 1921; collection of Theodore T. and Mary G. Ellis, Worcester, MA, by 1929; then bequeathed to the Worcester Art Museum, 1940.

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