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Return From The Hunt

Artist Louis Valtat (French, 1869-1952)

CultureFrench

Date1912

MediumOil on burlap

DimensionsOverall: 67 x 87 in. (170.2 x 221 cm)
Overall, Frame: 70 x 90 in. (177.8 x 228.6 cm)

InscribedSigned front lower right: "L. VALTAT 1912"

Credit LineGift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr.

Object number71.550

On View

Chrysler Museum of Art, Gallery 220

DescriptionOil on burlap painting. Heavy outlines of a group of eight men with guns, back from a hunting trip. Two boars, caught by the men, face left on a wood plank in the foreground.

Label TextLouis Valtat French (1869-1952) Return from the Hunt, 1912 Oil on burlap Gift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr. 71.550 Louis Valtat probably painted Return from the Hunt in southeastern France, in the mountainous wilds of the Estérel near the village of Saint-Raphaël. With flicks, daubs, and broader fields of vivid color set within heavy, black outlines, he presents a hunting party posing with their dogs and the day's kill-a pair of wild boar. The painting's coarse-weave, burlap support harmonizes with its rustic subject. A central member of France's early 20th-century avant-garde, Valtat exhibited alongside Henri Matisse at the 1905 Salon d'Automne, the historic Paris exhibition that marked the advent of Fauvism. Though Valtat shared the vivid palette of Matisse and his fellow Fauves, he portrayed his subjects in a more direct, straightforward way. His earthy realism is apparent in Return from the Hunt, where he uses vibrant color and broad, expressive brushwork to evoke eight unique and compelling human presences. ProvenanceThe artist, 1912-1952; Acquired from the artist's widow, 1953; Walter P. Chrysler, Jr.; Gift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr. to the Chrysler Museum of Art, 1971. Exhibition History"Salon d'Automne," Grand Palais des Champs-Élysées, Paris, France, October 1 - November 8, 1912. (exh. cat. no. 1673). "French Paintings 1789-1929 from the colleciton of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr.," Dayton Art Institute, Dayton, Oh., March 25 - May 22, 1960. (exh. cat. no. 89). Published ReferencesL. Cadot, Directeur, _Salon d'Automne_, exh. cat., Grand Palais des Champs-Élysées, Paris, France, 1912, no. 1673. Priscilla C. Colt and Charles H. Elam, _French Paintings 1789-1929 from the collection of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr._, exh. cat, Dayton Art Institute, Dayton, Oh., 1960, 97, 143; no. 89. Eric M. Zafran. "New Galleries devoted to French Art," _Chrysler Museum Bulletin_ 5, no. 12 (December 1976): n.p.