The Bear Hunt

Artist Peter Paul Rubens and Workshop Flemish, 1577–1640

Artist Frans Snyders and Workshop Flemish, 1579–1657

Date1639–1640

MediumOil on canvas

Dimensions51 1/2 x 77 1/2 in. (130.8 x 196.9 cm)
Frame: 65 x 90 1/2 in. (165.1 x 229.9 cm)

ClassificationsPaintings

Credit LinePurchased with funds from the State of North Carolina

Object number52.9.108

On View

On view

ProvenanceCommissioned by King Philip IV of Spain, 1639; created Antwerp, Flanders [present day Belgium], 1639–1640; Spanish Royal Collection, Buen Retiro Palace, Madrid, ca. 1640–before 1820; William Gordon Coesvelt (d. 1839), London [1]; [Christie’s, London, May 26–27, 1820, no. 117, as A Bear Hunt by Rubens]; Morland. Nicholas William Ridley-Colborne, 1st Baron Colborne (1779–1854), West Harling, Norfolk, England, by 1831. Robert Thornhagh Gurdon (1829–1902), 1st Baron Cranworth, Letton Hall, Norfold, England; to his wife Emily Frances Heathcote Gurdon (1850–1934), Lady Cranworth, Letton Hall, Norfolk, England; [Sotheby’s, London, May 30, 1934, no. 143, as A Bear Hunt by Rubens]; [A. L. Nicholson, London]; [Van Diemen Lilienfeld Galleries, New York]; [A. L. Nicholson, London]; Christie, Manson & Woods, London, March 12, 1948, no. 152, as A Bear Hunt by Rubens]; [A. B. Asher, London, 1948]; [David M. Koetser Gallery, New York]; sold to NCMA, 1952.

[1] Coesvelt acquired most of his paintings is Spain and Italy, in partnership with the painter Geo. A. Wallis and the dealer William Buchanan.Published References“A Collector of Refined Taste; [and] A Merchant of Respectability in the City of London” (auction catalogue) (London: Christie’s, May 26-27, 1820), lot 117, as A Bear Hunt by Rubens.

Villamil G. Cruzada, Rubens Diplomático Español (Madrid: 1874), 324. (Publication of inventories.)

Max Rooses, L'oeuvre de P. P. Rubens (Antwerp: Jos. Maes, 1886), Vol. 1, 131-32; Vol. 3 (1890), 7-8; Vol. 4 (1890), 350-51.

Max Rooses, Correspondance de Rubens et documents épistolaires concernant sa vie and ses oeuvres publiés, traduits, annotés par Ch. Ruelens, par Max. Rooses et feu Ch. Ruelens, Vol. 6 (Antwerp: 1909), 232-33, 236, 247-48, 294.

Algernon Graves, A Century of Loan Exhibitions 1813-1912, Vol. 3 (London: Algernon Graves, 1914), 1161, no. 49.

“Catalogue of fine paintings and drawings by old masters, etc., comprising the property of the dowager Lady Cranworth (deceased) [and others]” (auction catalogue) (London: Sotheby’s, May 30, 1934), lot 143, as A Bear Hunt by Rubens.

“Catalogue of pictures by Old Masters” (auction catalogue) (London: Christie, Manson & Woods, March 12, 1948), lot 152, as A Bear Hunt by Rubens..

E. P. P. Larsen, Rubens (Antwerp: De Sikkel, 1952), 182, illus.no. 141a.

W. R. Valentiner, Catalogue of Paintings: Including Three Sets of Tapestries (Raleigh: North Carolina Museum of Art, 1956), no. 130, illus. (b-w).

Art News 55, no. 2 (April 1956), 58 (advertisement illus.).

W. Aubrey Cartwright, Guide to Art Museums in the United States (New York: Duell, Sloan and Peace, 1958), 146, illus. 147.

Svetlana Alpers, The Decoration of the Torre de la Parada (London: Phaidon, 1971), 39.

"Of Time and Space: Motion in Art," North Carolina Museum of Art Preview (Autumn 1985), mentioned 22, illus. (b-w) 23.

Arnoud Balis, Rubens Hunting Scenes (Oxford University Press: Harvey Miller, 1986), 218-33, 261-63, cat. no. 27, illus. no. 132.

Egbert Haverkamp-Begemann, Creative Copies (New York: The Drawing Center, 1988), 76, illus. (detail) fig. 176-1.

Hella Robels, Frans Snyders: Stillleben und Tiermaler, 1579-1657 (Munich: Deutscher Kunstverlag, 19890, 386-87, fig. no. 291 (as Frans Snyders).

Michael Jaffé, Catalogo Completo Rubens, transl. by Germano Mullazzani (Milan: Rizzoli, 1989), illus. fig. 1382. (On p. 389, listed are illus. #'s 493, 991, 1098, 1128, 1129, 1382.)

Introduction to the Collections, rev. ed. (Raleigh, North Carolina Museum of Art, 1992), illus. (b-w) 119.

Guy C. Baumann and Walter A. Liedtke, selected by, Flemish Paintings in America: A Survey of Early Netherlandish and Flemish Paintings in the Public Collections of North America, Arnout Balis, Carl Van de Velde and Hans Vlieghe, eds., Flandria Extra Muros series (Antwerp: Fonds Mercator, 1992), 366, illus. fig. 441.

Susan Koslow, Frans Snyders: The Noble Estate, Seventeenth-Century Still-Life and Animal Painting in the Southern Netherlands (Antwerp: Fonds Mercator, 1995), 242, illus. (color) 241.

Alexander Vergara, Rubens and His Spanish Patrons (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999), 131, 133, 231, notes 61-69.

Eleanor H. Gustafson, "Museum accessions," Antiques (April 2004), mentioned 28.

Peter C. Sutton and Marjorie E. Wiesman, Drawn by the Brush: Oil Sketches by Peter Paul Rubens (exhibition catalogue) (New Haven and London: Yale University Press for Bruce Museum, Cincinnati Art Museum, Berkeley Art Museum, and Pacific Film Archive, 2004), discussed 258-59, illus. (b-w) 259, fig. 1 (catalogue only, not in show).

Isabel Azcárate Luxán, "Notas y Documentos," in Reales Sitios 42, no. 164 (April-June 2005), 70-75, illus. (color) 71.

Karen C. Kelly, "Kings, Comedians, and Captains of Industry: Trails of Art Ownership," in Preview: The Magazine of the North Carolina Museum of Art (Spring 2008), discussed 11, illus. (color) 10.

Dennis P. Weller, Seventeenth-Century Dutch and Flemish Paintings [Systematic Catalogue of the Collection] (Raleigh: North Carolina Museum of Art, 2009), cat. no. 62, illus. (color) 298.

Rubens: Inspired by Italy and Established in Antwerp (exhibition catalogue) (Tokyo: Bunkamura Museum of Art, 2013), cat. no. 37, illus. (color). Catalogue essay by Dennis P. Weller, “Peter Paul Rubens and Frans Snyders: The Business of Collaboration,” discussed and illus. (b-w) 249, fig. 28. (English translation published separately; discussed and illus. 34.)
Exhibition HistoryLondon, British Institution, 1831, cat. no. 49.

Raleigh, NC, North Carolina Museum of Art, "Of Space and Time: Motion in Art," September 1985-August 1985.

Raleigh, NC, North Carolina Museum of Art, Mary Duke Biddle Education Gallery, "Dutch Art in the Age of Rembrandt," October 25, 1986-February 15, 1987 (not part of exhibition but on view in conjunction with it.

Raleigh, NC, North Carolina Museum of Art, Mary Duke Biddle Education Gallery, "Objects of Delight: Still Lifes from the Permanent Collection," October 5, 1990-June 16, 1991.

Tokyo, Japan, “Rubens: Inspired by Italy and Established in Antwerp,” Bunkamura Museum of Art, March 9–April 21, 2013; Kitakyushu Municipal Museum of Art, April 28–June 16, 2013; Niigata Prefectural Museum of Modern Art, June 29–August 11, 2013, cat. no. 37, illus. (color) 109, detail (color) 110–11. Catalogue essay by Dennis P. Weller, “Peter Paul Rubens and Frans Snyders: The Business of Collaboration,” discussed and illus. (b-w) 248, fig. 28 (English translation published separately; discussed and illus. 34.)

Raleigh, NC, North Carolina Museum of Art, "The People's Collection, Reimagined," October 7, 2022–present. Object Rights Statement

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