A Poultry Merchant and an Old Woman Warming Her Hands
Artist
Jean Michelin
French, circa 1626–1696
Datecirca 1652
MediumOil on canvas
Dimensions37 1/2 x 52 1/2 in. (95.3 x 133.3 cm)
Frame: 51 3/8 x 64 1/8 x 4 1/2 in. (130.5 x 162.9 x 11.4 cm)
Frame: 51 3/8 x 64 1/8 x 4 1/2 in. (130.5 x 162.9 x 11.4 cm)
ClassificationsPaintings
Credit LinePurchased with funds from the State of North Carolina
Object number52.9.126
On View
Not on viewProvenanceArthur Kay, Glasgow (by 1910); sale Christie, Manson, & Woods, London May 11–12, 1911, lot 256, as L. and A. Le Nain) [1]; bought by Roos or Hughes [2]; Wildenstein & Co., Paris in 1936, New York, by 1946 [3]; sold to NCMA, 1952.
[1] Listed as the lender in Catalogue of A Collection of Pictures including examples of the Works of the Brothers Le Nain and others Works of Art, Burlington Fine Arts Club, London, 1910, cat. no. 47 [as Le Nain], p. 27. Kay is incorrectly listed as the owner of the painting in Josephine M. Lansing, “A Fourth Member of the Le Nain Group,” Metropolitan Museum Studies, vol. 1 (May 1929), p. 204–5, illus.; and by Paul Fierens, Les Le Nain, coll. Art et Artists français, Paris, 1933. P. 31, and pl. XXXV. >>>The painting is said to have been purchased at Kay’s sale by an American.<<
[2] GRI copy of the catalogue lists Roos as the buyer but is annotated “[Hughes].” The original recorder may have misunderstood the name of the buyer?
[3] M. Wildenstein, Paris, is noted as the owner of the painting, signed and dated 1652 by J. Michelin, in George Isarlo, “Les trois Le Nain et leur suite,” Renaissance 21, no. 1, p. 43, fig. 109, and p. 50, no. 145. Wildenstein, New York listed as lender of the painting, cat. no. 32 [as Michelin], to A Loan exhibition of French Painting of the Time of Louis XIIIth and Louis XIVth for the Benefit of the Caen Library Fund, May 9–June 1, 1946, Wildenstein, New York, no. 32.
[1] Listed as the lender in Catalogue of A Collection of Pictures including examples of the Works of the Brothers Le Nain and others Works of Art, Burlington Fine Arts Club, London, 1910, cat. no. 47 [as Le Nain], p. 27. Kay is incorrectly listed as the owner of the painting in Josephine M. Lansing, “A Fourth Member of the Le Nain Group,” Metropolitan Museum Studies, vol. 1 (May 1929), p. 204–5, illus.; and by Paul Fierens, Les Le Nain, coll. Art et Artists français, Paris, 1933. P. 31, and pl. XXXV. >>>The painting is said to have been purchased at Kay’s sale by an American.<<
[2] GRI copy of the catalogue lists Roos as the buyer but is annotated “[Hughes].” The original recorder may have misunderstood the name of the buyer?
[3] M. Wildenstein, Paris, is noted as the owner of the painting, signed and dated 1652 by J. Michelin, in George Isarlo, “Les trois Le Nain et leur suite,” Renaissance 21, no. 1, p. 43, fig. 109, and p. 50, no. 145. Wildenstein, New York listed as lender of the painting, cat. no. 32 [as Michelin], to A Loan exhibition of French Painting of the Time of Louis XIIIth and Louis XIVth for the Benefit of the Caen Library Fund, May 9–June 1, 1946, Wildenstein, New York, no. 32.
Published ReferencesBurlington Fine Arts Club Illustrated Catalogue of Pictures by The Brothers Le Nain (London, 1910), cat. no. 24, attrib. to Le Nain (p. 24) and lent by Arthur Kay, Esq., illus. pl. XIV.
P. Fierens, Les Le Nain (Paris, 1933), 21, illus. pl. XXXV (as studio of Le Nain).
G. Isarloff, "Les trois Le Nain et leur suite," Renaissance de l'art française (1938), 43, illus. fig. 109.
P. Jamot, "Autour des Le Nain un disciple inconnu: Jean Michelin," Revue de l'art (1933), 211, 212, 215-16.
French Painting of the Time of Louis XIIIth and Louis XIVth (exhibition catalogue) (New York: Wildenstein & Co, 1946), no. 2.
Art News (1956), 38, illus.
W. R. Valentiner, Catalogue of Paintings: Including Three Sets of Tapestries (Raleigh: North Carolina Museum of Art, 1956), no. 154, illus. (b-w).
Ben F. Williams, "A Raleigh, Caroline du Nord," L'Oeil, no. 155 (November 1967), 4.
Vouet to Rigaud (New York: Finch College Museum of Art, 1967) (exhibition Catalogue), NCMA work mentioned in comparison with another version, cat. no. 39.
G. Bazin, "Jean Michelin," Kindler's Malerei Lexikon, Vol. 4, L-Q (Zurich: Kindler Verlag, 1967), 418-19.
Ministere de la Culture et de la Communication, Les freres Le Nain (Paris: Editions de la Reunion des musées nationaux, 1978), cat. no. 83, illus. 342.
Galeries nationales du Grand Palais, La peinture française de XVIIe siècle dans les collections américaines (1982), 379 (included in inventory of 17th century French ptgs. in American collections).
Edgar Peters Bowron, ed., Introduction to the Collections (Chapel Hill: published for the North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh, by The University of North Carolina Press, 1983), illus. (b-w) 146.
Christopher Wright, The French Painters of the Seventeenth Century (London, 1985).
Jacques Thuillier, Les Frères Le Nain (Paris: Editions Faton, 2016), cat. no. 83, illus. (color), listed 400.
Exhibition HistoryBurlington House, 1910.
New York, NY, Wildenstein Gallery, “French Painting of the Time of Louis XIIIth and Louis XIVth,” 1946, no. 2.
Huntington, NY, Heckscher Museum, “Mistaken Identity,” December 17, 1972-January 28, 1973.
Paris, France, Louvre Museum, “Les Frères Le Nain,” October 1978-January 1979.
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