Acis and Galatea
Artist
Antoine-Jean Gros
(French, 1771-1835)
CultureFrench
Date1833
MediumOil on canvas
Dimensions51 x 63 1/2 in. (129.5 x 161.3 cm)
Overall, Frame: 58 x 71 1/2 in. (147.3 x 181.6 cm)
Overall, Frame: 58 x 71 1/2 in. (147.3 x 181.6 cm)
InscribedSigned and dated lower right: Gros. 1833
Credit LineGift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr.
Object number71.2080
Collections
On View
Chrysler Museum of Art, Gallery 208
Label TextAntoine-Jean Gros French, 1771–1835 Acis and Galatea, 1833 Oil on canvas The lovers Acis and Galatea cower in a cave. They’re hiding from Galatea’s rejected suitor, the cyclops Polyphemus, who can be seen terrorizing the countryside with murder in his eye. While the story is drawn from ancient Roman literature, the anxious tone reflects the modern interest in the sublime—an emotional state characterized by both horror and awe. The figures’ idealized nudity and billowing garments are typical of Antoine-Jean Gros’ Neoclassical style. Yet, by the time he showed the painting in Paris, younger critics had begun to reject the style, and they condemned this work as old fashioned. Devastated, Gros fell into a depression and drowned himself in the River Seine. Gift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr. 71.2080 ProvenanceThe artist, 1833-1835; the artist's atelier sale, Paris, Nov. 23, 1835 (cat. no. 22); Urvoy de Saint Bedan, Paris, 1835-1863; Jean-Baptiste Delestre, Paris, 1863-71; Delestre sale, Paris, Oct. 13-14, 1871 (cat. no. 3); M. Dinin, Paris, 1936; Kochitz-Kalmaznine, Paris, 1954; Walter P. Chrysler, Jr.; Gift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr. to the Chrysler Museum, Norfolk, 1971. Exhibition HistorySalon, Paris, 1835. (Exhib. cat. no. 990). "Gros, Ses Amis, Ses Elèves," Petit Palais, Paris, May - July 1936. (Exhib. cat. no. 101). "Paintings from the Collection of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr.," Portland Art Museum, Portland, Oregon; Seattle Art Museum; California Palace of the Legion of Honor, San Francisco; Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Minneapolis Art Institute; St. Louis City Art Museum; William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art, Kansas City; Detroit Institute of Arts; and Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, March 2, 1956 - April 14, 1957. (Exhib. cat. no. 74). "Chrysler Art Museum of Provincetown Inaugural Exhibition," Provincetown, Massachusetts, 1958. (Exhib. cat. 25). "French Paintings 1789-1929 from the Collection of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr.," Dayton Art Institute, March 25 - May 22, 1960. (Exhib. cat. no. 11). "Veronese to Franz Kline: Masterworks from the Chrysler Museum at Norfolk," for the benefit of The Chrysler Museum Art Reference Library, Wildenstein & Co., New York, N. Y., April 13 - May 13, 1978. (Exhib. cat. no. 14). "Seven Stages of Man," London Regional Art Gallery, London, Ontario, May 3 - June 15, 1980. "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. (Exhib. cat. no. 16). "Ancient Gold Jewelry from the Dallas Museum of Art," Chrysler Museum of Art, Feb. 24 - May 21, 2000. "Reopening of the Joan P. Brock Galleries," Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, Va., Opening in March of 2008. 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. 74. Bertina S. Manning. _Chrysler Art Museum of Provincetown Inaugural Exhibition_. Provincetown, Massachusetts: Chrysler Art Museum of Provincetown. 07/1958: no. 25. 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.11. Mario Amaya. "Contrasts and Comparisons in French Nineteenth Century Painting," _Apollo_. 107: 194. 04/1978: pp. 16-25, ill. Eric M. Zafran and Mario Amaya. _Veronese to Franz Kline: Masterworks from the Chrysler Museum at Norfolk_. Norfolk, VA: The Chrysler Museum. 1978. No. 14. Chrysler Museum. _Selections from the Permanent Collection: The Chrysler Museum_. Norfolk, VA: Chrysler Museum of Art. 1982: p. 54. Jefferson C. Harrison. "Nineteenth-Century French Art - Part I," _The Chrysler Museum Gallery Guide_. Norfolk, VA: Chrysler Museum. 1985. No. 1. Jefferson C. Harrison. _French Paintings from the Chrysler Museum_. The Chrysler Museum. 1986. No. 75. Jefferson C. Harrison. _The Chrysler Museum Handbook of the European and American Collections: Selected Paintings, Sculpture and Drawings_. The Chrysler Museum, Norfolk, VA, 1991. Page 97, no. 75. David O'Brien, _After the Revolution: Antoine-Jean Gros, Painting and Propaganda Under Napoleon_ (Pennsylvania: The Pennsylvania State University Press, 2006) p. 229 - 231 fig. 146. Eric M. Zafran, "Norfolk's Salon Masterworks Shine Again," _Fine Art Connoisseur_, November-December 2014, 46.
17th century
Pair/Pair