Ref. 2115

J.-A. Duval Le Camus

Painter (1814-1878)

« Breakfasts in Marly »

French School
Signed J. Duval.L.C.

Exhibited at the Salon of 1846, no. 592

Oil on canvas

Dimensions with frame – Height : 157 cm (61,8 in.) ; Width : 170 cm (67 in.)

Large oval painting depicting a breakfast gathering in Marly’s park on a sunny morning. The guests, seated in a circle on the grass, are enjoying the pleasant summer weather, glasses of wine in hand. Perhaps they are already tipsy, as suggested by a gentleman’s belongings carelessly abandoned in the foreground, the overturned glass and the proximity of the group with rosy cheeks, where each person is almost slumped against their neighbor. This revelry, however, is not permitted for the youngest among them: the child, drawn to the bunch of grapes, a symbol of wine, is held back by his mother on the edge of the circle, who takes the fruit away from him. Not far behind flows a fountain where the next bottle is kept cool, ready to be brought by the attentive servants. A greyhound, a symbol of loyalty, looks away from the group, foreshadowing the events to come.

This painting follows in the pictorial tradition of “fêtes galantes”, a genre that emerged in France in the 18th century through the works of Watteau, Boucher, and Fragonard. The Age of Enlightenment was characterized by a liberation from social and moral constraints and from the rigors of etiquette; consequently, scenes depicting the good life, far removed from the austerity imposed by the court, were celebrated. Thus, the figures in our painting are all dressed in 18th-century fashion and wear wigs typical of the period. It is noteworthy that he mastered the harmony of colors, acid green, pale pink, and powder blue, and of light, a mastery already recognized by the jury of the Salon in 1838. This “personal palette” surely responded to the sensibilities of the 1840s.

The original gilded wooden frame adds to the work’s splendor: a garland of roses, daisies, fruits, and leaves, tied with a ribbon, extends the painting’s pastoral theme through a delightful interplay of volumes. The whole appears to be suspended by a pleated ribbon and bordered on either side by a frieze of pearls.

biography

Jules-Alexandre Duval Le Camus (1814–1878) was a French painter who received his training in the studio of his father, Pierre Duval Le Camus, and later studied at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris in the studios of Drölling and Delaroche. In 1838, he placed second in the 1838 Prix de Rome for painting, and then exhibited at the Salon from 1840 through 1867. His particular focus was religious painting and history painting, which were frequently featured at the Salon as well as in several churches in France where his works are still on display. Following in his father’s footsteps, however, he also produced several genre scenes. He was also a major collector of drawings, which are now scattered among the world’s major museums.

bibliography

• «Beaux-Arts. Exposition du Louvre en 1846 » in L’Étoile : revue du progrès […], 1^ère année, 1^ère série, 22 March 1846, p. 118 ;
• « Beaux-arts. Salon de 1846» in M. de Murville, L’Indépendant, 19^e année, 17 avril 1846, p.1 ;
• « Beaux-arts. Salon de 1846. Septième article» in Gazette nationale ou le Moniteur universel, 27 April 1846, Paris, p. 1105 ;
• L’Illustration, Journal Universel, n°167, Vol. VII, 9 May 1846, Paris, pp. 153-154, repr. p.153.