The Woodcutters
Artist:
Pierre Puvis de Chavannes
(French, 1824 - 1898)
Culture: French
Date: ca. 1871-1873
Place made:France
Medium: Oil on paper, mounted to canvas
Dimensions:
30 x 44 in. (76.2 x 111.8 cm)
Credit Line: Bequest of Gilbert M. Denman, Jr.
Object number: 2005.1.178
Provenance: by descent to the artist's great nephew, André Duhamel (1884-1965), La Tronche; Galerie Charpentier, Paris, December 8, 1959, lot 71; sold by M. R. Schweitzer, New York, to Gilbert M. Denman, Jr. (1921-2004), San Antonio, 1963; Gilbert M. Denman, Jr., by bequest to San Antonio Museum of Art, 2005
Label Text
This enigmatic painting shows people of various genders and ages in a forest, performing a range of activities. The spatial flatness, chalky colors, and strong outlines are typical of Pierre Puvis de Chavannes. The men cutting wood in the right foreground are much more fully modeled than the other figures. The difference in finish is probably because this work was a large-scale study for a never-completed mural. Its exact subject is unclear. The man descending a hill in the background carrying a lyre may be the mythological poet and musician Orpheus, potentially making this a Classical story about the civilizing effects of culture.
Raised in a wealthy family, Pierre Puvis de Chavannes received an eclectic artistic education from several leading contemporary artists, as well as periods of independent study. His great passion was decorative mural painting, which he revived virtually singlehandedly in nineteenth- century France.
(William Keyse Rudolph, 2018)
Raised in a wealthy family, Pierre Puvis de Chavannes received an eclectic artistic education from several leading contemporary artists, as well as periods of independent study. His great passion was decorative mural painting, which he revived virtually singlehandedly in nineteenth- century France.
(William Keyse Rudolph, 2018)
Not on view
The San Antonio Museum of Art is in the process of digitizing its permanent collection. This electronic record was created from historic documentation that does not necessarily reflect SAMA's complete or current knowledge about the object. Review and updating of such records is ongoing.
This resource has been made possible in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities: Exploring the Human Endeavor.
