Pastorale: The Vegetable Vendor
Artist
François Boucher
(French, 1703-1770)
CultureFrench
Dateca. 1735
MediumOil on canvas
Dimensions95 x 67 in. (241.3 x 170.2 cm)
Overall, Frame: 98 1/2 x 71 3/4 in. (250.2 x 182.2 cm)
Overall, Frame: 98 1/2 x 71 3/4 in. (250.2 x 182.2 cm)
InscribedSigned lower right: "f. Boucher"
Credit LineGift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr.
Object number71.504
Collections
On View
Chrysler Museum of Art, Gallery 207
Label TextFrançois Boucher French, 1703–1770 Pastorale: The Vegetable Vendor, ca. 1735 Oil on canvas The subject here seems straightforward: a farm boy presents his produce to a kitchen maid, hoping to make a sale. Yet the scene is coded with symbols that chart a more arousing theme. Eighteenth-century viewers would have seen the parsnips the boy offers to the maid, the bound animals on his donkey, and even the eggs in the basket at left as emblems of lovemaking. This blushing encounter of boy and girl brims with sexual longing, their business exchange symbolizing something far more intense: the triumph of love. Gift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr. 71.504 ProvenanceHôtel of the Duc de Richelieu, Paris, until 1852; sale, Paris, May 18, 1952 (no. 2); Baron de Rothschild; Alphonse de Rothschild, Paris, 1954; Robert Lebel, Paris, 1954; Walter P. Chrysler, Jr.; Gift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr. to the Chrysler Museum, 1971. Exhibition History"Paintings from the Collection of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr.," Portland Art Museum, Oregon, March 2 - April 15, 1956; Seattle Art Museum, Washington, April 27 - May 27, 1956; Palace of the Legion of Honor, San Francisco, California, June 12 - July 11, 1956; Los Angeles County Museum, California, July 26 - Aug. 26, 1956; Minneapolis Art Institute, Minnesota, Sept. 8 - Oct. 7, 1956; City Art Museum, St. Louis, Missouri, Oct. 19 - Nov. 18, 1956; William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art, Kansas City Missouri, Nov. 30, 1956 - Jan. 2, 1957; Detroit Institute of Art, Michigan, Jan. 18 - Feb. 17, 1957; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Massachusetts, March 7 - April 14, 1957. (Exh. cat. no. 65). "The Age of Elegance: The Rococo and its Effect," Baltimore Museum of Art, April 25 - June 14, 1959. (Exh. cat. no. 6). "French Master of the Eighteenth Century," Finch College Museum of Art, New York, Feb. 27 - April 7, 1963. (Exh. cat. no. 22). "Drawings by François Boucher," National Gallery, Washington D.C., Dec. 23, 1973 - March 7, 1974. "Homage to the Louvre," Chrysler Museum at Norfolk, May - Sept., 1976. "Treasures from the Chrysler Museum at Norfolk and Walter P. Chrysler, Jr.," Tennessee Fine Arts Center at Cheekwood, Nashville, June 12 - Sept. 5, 1977. (Exh. cat. no. 22). "François Boucher," Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum and Kumamoto Prefectural Museum of Art, April 24 - August 22, 1982. (Exh. cat. no. 6). "French Paintings from the Chrysler Museum," North Carolina Museum of Art, May 31 - Sept. 14, 1986; Birmingham Museum of Art, Nov. 6, 1986 - Jan. 18, 1987. (Exh. cat. no. 12). "The Age of Watteau, Chardin, and Fragonard: Masterpieces of French Genre Painting," National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, June 6 - Sept. 7, 2003; National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C., Oct. 12, 2003 - Jan. 11, 2004; Staatliche Museen of Berlin, Feb. 8 - May 9, 2004. (Exh. cat. no. 51).; Published ReferencesBertina S. Manning. _Paintings from the Collection of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr.: An Exhibition Organized by the Portland Art Museum, Oregon_. Portland: Portland Art Association. 1956. No. 65. *See for further references Notes by Robert L. Manning. _A Loan Exhibition of French Masters of the Eighteenth Century_. Finch College Museum of Art, New York, New York. 1963. No. 22. *See for further references Chrysler Museum. "To Go on Loan: Boucher's 'The Vegetable Vendor'," _Chrysler Museum Bulletin_. Vol. 2, no. 8. 10/1973. Eric M. Zafran and Mario Amaya. _Treasures from the Chrysler Museum at Norfolk and Walter P. Chrysler, Jr._. Tennessee Fine Arts Center at Cheekwood, Nashville. 1977. No. 22. *See for further references. Eric M. Zafran, reprinted from "Treasures from The Chrysler Museum at Norfolk and Walter P. Chrysler, Jr.". "Spotlight of the Month: Boucher," _Chrysler Museum Bulletin_. Vol. 10, no. 9. 09/1980. Chrysler Museum. _Selections from the Permanent Collection: The Chrysler Museum_. Norfolk, VA: Chrysler Museum of Art. 1982: p. 48. Colin B. Bailey, editor. _The First Painters of the King: French Royal Taste from Louis XIV to the Revolution_. New York: Stair, Sainty, Matthiesen. 1985:p. 133, ill. #72a. Pierre Rosenberg and Michel Hilaire. _Boucher: 60 Chefs-D'Oeuvre_. Fribourg (Suisse): Office du Livre. 1986: p. 19, no. 11. Jefferson C. Harrison. _French Paintings from the Chrysler Museum_. The Chrysler Museum. 1986: pp. 22-24; 106, ill. *See for further references. Laura C. Lieberman. "Select Offerings: French Paintings from The Chrysler Museum," _Southern Accents_. Vol. 9, no. 6. 11/1986: pp. 46-50. _Francois Boucher 1703-1770_, exhib. cat., Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York et al., 1986-1987, pp. 163-168, under no. 27. Denys Sutton. "François Boucher: Painter of Grace and Pleasure," _Apollo_. Vol. 125, no. 300. 02/1987: pp. 92-101; p. 93, illustrated. Jefferson C. Harrison, _The Chrysler Museum Handbook of the European and American Collections: Selected Paintings, Sculpture and Drawings_. Norfolk: The Chrysler Museum, 1991, 68-69, no. 51. Colin B. Bailey, Philip Conisbee, and Thomas W. Gaehtgens, _The Age of Watteau, Chardin, and Fragonard: Masterpieces of French Genre Painting_, exh. cat., National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, 2003, 220-221. Terry Ward Libby, _Masterpieces: A Celebration of Food and Art in Virginia_ (Richmond, VA: Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, 2005), 33, 146. ISBN: 0-917046-79-X Melissa Hyde, _Making Up the Rococo: François Boucher and His Critics_ (Los Angeles: Getty Research Institute, 2006), 184-185. Edited by Melissa Hyde and Mark Ledbury,_Rethinking Boucher_ (Los Angeles: Getty Research Institute, 2006), 44,49-50,185 Pl. 6. Jeff Harrison, _Collecting with Vision: Treasures From the Chrysler Museum of Art_ (London: D. Giles Ltd., 2007), 20 det. & 35, fig. 28. ISBN: 978-0-940744-72-1
