(Paris 1686–1755 Beauvais)
A still life with a roebuck, fruit and vegetables
signed at lower right: JB. Oudry,
oil on canvas, 51.7 x 63.5 cm, framed

Provenance:
with Galerie Cailleux, Paris;
sale, Paris, Palais Galliera, 12th June 1970, lot 14

Exhibited:
Galerie Daber, Paris, Natures mortes françaises du XVIIème au XXème siècle, April – May 1959, no. 16;
Galerie Cailleux, Paris, Watteau et sa génération, March – April 1968, no. 77

Literature:
D. Romand, La cote des peintres: Jean-Baptiste Oudry 1686–1755, in: Gazette de l’Hôtel Drouot, LXXX, p. 9, cat. no. 7, ill. (as Jean-Baptiste Oudry);
M. and F. Faré, La Vie Silencieuse en France: La Nature Morte au XVIIIème Siècle, Fribourg, 1976, p. 131, fig. 205 (as Jean-Baptiste Oudry);
H. N. Opperman, Jean-Baptiste Oudry, New York and London, 1977, vol. I, pp. 563/64, cat. no. P535, p. 567, vol. II, cat. no. P535, p. 947, ill. on p. 1064, fig. 184 (as Jean-Baptiste Oudry and workshop)

The present painting is the smaller version of a lost still life by Oudry mentioned in two inventories dating from 1732–1735. An upright rectangular version that is considerably larger is now preserved at the Dayton Art Institute, Dayton, Ohio (formerly Château de Verderonne), while an unsigned workshop variant was sold at Nouveau Drouot in Paris on 17th June 1983, lot 12. In his 1977 monograph on Oudry, Hal Opperman assumed that two further variants of the lost painting exist. He considers the painting offered for sale here, which is the only signed version, a replica by Oudry reduced in size that was executed with the participation of the artist’s workshop. The present painting was published by Fabrice Faré as an autograph work by Oudry – an opinion he still upholds while reserving the right to revise it with regard to the degree of the workshop’s participation until the publication of the catalogue raisonné. The present painting will be included in the forthcoming catalogue raisonné edited by Opperman and Karen Chastagnol.

Jean-Baptiste Oudry began his career as a portraitist and specialised in animal and still life painting from 1715 onwards. His mostly large-sized paintings were installed in various royal palaces. What is now the largest collection of drawings and paintings by Oudry in Germany is preserved in Schwerin. Its foundation goes back to Duke Christian Louis II of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, who began compiling it in 1732. The Staatliches Museum Schwerin owns as many as 34 paintings by Oudry, including still lifes, kitchen scenes, animal fights, and exotic animals, as well as 43 drawings. Parts of its holdings are permanently on view at the Staatliches Museum Schwerin.

Provenance:
with Galerie Cailleux, Paris;
sale, Paris, Palais Galliera, 12 June 1970, lot 14

Exhibited:
Galerie Daber, Paris, Natures mortes françaises du XVIIème au XXème siècle, April – May 1959, no. 16;
Galerie Cailleux, Paris, Watteau et sa génération, March – April 1968, no. 77

Literature:
D. Romand, La cote des peintres: Jean-Baptiste Oudry 1686–1755, in: Gazette de l’Hôtel Drouot, LXXX, p. 9, cat. no. 7, ill. (as Jean-Baptiste Oudry);
M. and F. Faré, La Vie Silencieuse en France: La Nature Morte au XVIIIème Siècle, Fribourg, 1976, p. 131, fig. 205 (as Jean-Baptiste Oudry);
H. N. Opperman, Jean-Baptiste Oudry, New York and London, 1977, vol. I, pp. 563/64, cat. no. P535, p. 567, vol. II, cat. no. P535, p. 947, ill. on p. 1064, fig. 184 (as Jean-Baptiste Oudry and workshop)

The present painting is the smaller version of a lost still life by Oudry mentioned in two inventories dating from 1732–1735. An upright rectangular version that is considerably larger is now preserved at the Dayton Art Institute, Dayton, Ohio (formerly Château de Verderonne), while an unsigned workshop variant was sold at Nouveau Drouot in Paris on 17 June 1983, lot 12. In his 1977 monograph on Oudry, Hal Opperman assumed that two further variants of the lost painting exist. He considers the painting offered for sale here, which is the only signed version, a replica by Oudry reduced in size that was executed with the participation of the artist’s workshop. The present painting was published by Fabrice Faré as an autograph work by Oudry – an opinion he still upholds while reserving the right to revise it with regard to the degree of the workshop’s participation until the publication of the catalogue raisonné. The present painting will be included in the forthcoming catalogue raisonné edited by Opperman and Karen Chastagnol.

Jean-Baptiste Oudry began his career as a portraitist and specialised in animal and still life painting from 1715 onwars. His mostly large-sized paintings were installed in various royal palaces. What is now the largest collection of drawings and paintings by Oudry in Germany is preserved in Schwerin. Its foundation goes back to Duke Christian Louis II of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, who began compiling it in 1732. The Staatliches Museum Schwerin owns as many as 34 paintings by Oudry, including still lifes, kitchen scenes, animal fights, and exotic animals, as well as 43 drawings. Parts of its holdings are permanently on view at the Staatliches Museum Schwerin.