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Photograph by Ed Pollard, Canon EOS-1Ds Mark II digital slr-2008.
Shepherd and His Flock
Photograph by Ed Pollard, Canon EOS-1Ds Mark II digital slr-2008.
Photograph by Ed Pollard, Canon EOS-1Ds Mark II digital slr-2008.

Shepherd and His Flock

Artist Charles-Émile Jacque (French, 1813 - 1893)
CultureFrench
Date1880
MediumOil on canvas
Dimensions104 × 82 1/2 in. (264.2 × 209.6 cm)
Overall, Frame: 116 × 96 1/4 × 5 1/8 in. (294.6 × 244.5 × 13 cm)
InscribedSigned and dated lower right: "ch. Jacque. 80."
Credit LineGift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr.
Object number71.2055
On View
Chrysler Museum of Art, Gallery 102
DescriptionThis is a large oil on canvas painting. The foreground is filled with sheep in great detail. The mid-ground holds the shepherd, more sheep while the background sweeps in to the distance and meets the foreboding sky gray with ominous clouds. The sheep are lit with the sporadic light that filters through dark clouds. On the right stands a sheep dog, ready for action, with the shepherd not far behind. He carries a satchel over his left shoulder and a staff in his right arm.

Label TextCharles-Émile Jacque French, 1813–1894 Shepherd and His Flock, 1880 Oil on canvas Fleeing an approaching storm, a weathered shepherd strides over the crest of a hill, his trusty dog halting momentarily to survey their progress. But the real subject this painting is the flock of sheep they protect. Crowding the foreground, the jostling group is a collection of braying, fleecy forms. An errant ray of sunlight comes shining through the dark clouds overhead, spotlighting a few wooly faces. A founding member of the Barbizon group, the painter Charles-Émile Jacque became famous for his images of farm and field animals. Gift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr. 71.2055 ProvenanceThe artist, 1880-1894; the artist's atelier sale, Georges Petit, Paris, Nov. 12 - 15, 1894; the artist's son; Charles Curtis, Boston, Ma.; Giovanni Castano, Boston, Ma.; Sold to Walter P. Chrysler, Jr., May 28, 1953; Gift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr. to the Chrysler Museum, 1971. Exhibition HistorySalon, Paris, 1888. (Exhib. cat. no. 1343). "French Paintings 1789-1929 from the Collection of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr.," Dayton Art Institute, March 25 - May 22, 1960. (Exhib. cat. no. 34). "French Landscape Painters from Four Centuries," Finch College Museum of Art, New York, Oct. 20, 1965 - Jan. 9, 1966. (Exhib. cat. no. 22). "The Past Rediscovered: French Painting 1800-1900," Minneapolis Institute of Arts, July 3 - Sept. 7, 1969. (Exhib. cat. no. 52). "French Paintings from the Chrysler Museum," North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh, NC, May 31 - Sept. 14, 1986, Birmingham Museum of Art, Birmingham, AL, Nov. 6, 1986 - Jan. 18, 1987. (Exhib. cat. no. 27). "Reopening of the Joan P. Brock Galleries," Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, Va., Opening in March of 2008. Published ReferencesExhibition catalogue. _Cinquantenaire de la Fondation des Artistes Français_. Paris: Société des artistes français. 1932. Priscilla C. Colt and Charles H. Elam. _French Paintings 1789-1929 from the Collection of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr._. Dayton Art Institute, Dayton, Ohio. 1960, no.34. Exhibition catalogue. _Loan Exhibition of French Landscape Painters from Four Centuries_. New York: Finch College Museum of Art. 1965. No. 22. Charlotte Schlitz. "Spotlight Painting," _Chrysler Museum Bulletin_. Vol. 11, no. 1. Norfolk: Chrysler Museum. 01/1981. Wayne Craven. "J. Foxcroft Cole (1837-1892): His Art, and the Introduction of French Painting to America," _The American Art Journal_. Vol. XIII, no. 2. 03/1981: 51-65; 58, ill. Gabriel P. Weisberg. "Charles Jacque and Rustic Life," _Arts Magazine_. 12/1981: 90-93. Caroline B. and Richard R. Brettell. _Painters and Peasants in the Nineteenth Century_. Geneva: Editions d'Art Albert Skira S.A.. 1983: pp. 88-89. Jefferson C. Harrison. "Nineteenth-Century French Art - Part I," _The Chrysler Museum Gallery Guide_. Norfolk, VA: Chrysler Museum. 1985. No. 9. Jefferson C. Harrison. _French Paintings from the Chrysler Museum_. Norfolk, VA: The Chrysler Museum, 1986, No. 27, 53-4; 121; Color Plate No. 27, 121. Jefferson C. Harrison. _The Chrysler Museum Handbook of the European and American Collections: Selected Paintings, Sculpture and Drawings_. Norfolk, VA: The Chrysler Museum, 1991, No. 112, 141; Color Plate No. 112, 141. Pierre-Olivier Fanica. _Charles Jacque 1813-1894: Graveur Original et Peintre Animalier_. Montigny-sur-Loing: Art Bizon, 1995, 186-188, color reproduction p. 187. Jeff Harrison, _Collecting with Vision: Treasures From the Chrysler Museum of Art_ (London: D. Giles Ltd., 2007), 46, fig. 45. ISBN: 978-0-940744-72-1
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