Photograph by Ed Pollard, Hasselblad H4D50 - 2013.

A Bird Charmer in the Tuileries

Artist Pascal Adolphe Jean Dagnan-Bouveret (French, 1852-1929)

CultureFrench

Date1879

MediumBrown ink and wash on paper, mounted on board

DimensionsOverall: 17 x 24 5/16 in. (43.2 x 61.8 cm)
Overall, Frame: 23 1/4 x 30 1/4 x 2 1/4 in. (59.1 x 76.8 x 5.7 cm)

InscribedSigned and dated lower right corner: "P.A.J. Dagnan 1879"

Credit LineMuseum purchase

Object number99.2

On View

Not on view

DescriptionThis drawing (Brown ink and ink wash on white paper, mounted on board) depicts a scene of everyday Parisian life. A bird charmer performs at an entrance to the tuileries. He has attracted a small crowd of curious onlooks.

Label TextPascal-Adolphe-Jean Dagnan-Bouveret French, 1852–1929 A Bird Charmer in the Tuileries, 1879 Brown ink and wash on paper, mounted on board It is autumn and a bird charmer has attracted a small crowd of onlookers in the Tuileries gardens in Paris. The spectators are bundled against the cold, and several carry umbrellas. Although Pascal Dagnan-Bouveret delineates the figures with almost photographic precision (he often used a camera to assist with his work), he leaves the rest of the paper virtually untouched, allowing its stark whiteness to convey the bleak, chilly atmosphere of a damp, overcast fall day. Museum purchase 99.2 Exhibition History"Against the Modern: Dagnan-Bouveret and the Transformation of the Academic Tradition," Dahesh Museum of Art, New York, NY, Sept.12--Dec. 8, 2002; Society of the Four Arts, Palm Beach, FL, Jan. 3--Mar. 9, 2003. *Dahesh Museum of Art underwent renovations during the exhibition, so the exhibition actually opened at National Academy of Design Museum in New York for the Dahesh Museum of Art. "Behind the Seen: The Chrysler's Hidden Museum," Large Changing Gallery, Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, Va., October 21, 2005 - February 19, 2006. "Man's Best Friends," Selden Arcade, Norfolk, VA, August 27 - October 19, 2013.Published ReferencesDaniel Wildenstein, Director. GAZETTE DES BEAUX-ARTS. Paris: Les Beaux-Arts. 03/2000: 88. Gabriel P. Weisberg, _Against the Modern: Dagnan-Bouveret and the Transformation of the Academic Tradition_, exh. cat., Dahesh Museum of Art, New York, Ny., 2002, 53-54, fig. 52. Julia Rowland Myers, "J. Alden Weir's Essay on 'Modern Life': In the Park of 1879," _The American Art Journal_ Volumes 34 & 35 (2003 & 2004), 161 & 165. Jeff Harrison, _Collecting with Vision: Treasures From the Chrysler Museum of Art_ (London: D. Giles Ltd., 2007), 86 det. & 93, fig. 110. ISBN: 978-0-940744-72-1