9 Reasons Why the Hood Bought This Painting
How good a painting is this little Rococo number? From the educational perspective, pretty darn brilliant.
LAST FALL the Hood Museum bought CharlesJoseph Natoire's 1737 painting, People Resting by a Fountain, from an international art dealer. Scholars first took notice of the piece a few years ago when a private French collector consigned it to an auction house. (Where the painting had been since 1737 was anyone's guess.) To the trained eye, the work reveals clues to its origins and inspires reams of commentary about the artist and his society.
1 Natoire was the king of Rococo. He set the standard and the style. Before directing the French Academy in Rome, he exhibited in all the right shows and attracted hefty commissions from wealthy patrons—including Louis XV. The Hood's painting is related to a series of pictures Natoire painted for the king at the Chateau of Fontainebleau.
2 The hunter on horseback speaks of the opportunities and constraints of the period's patronage system and the arts. Louis XV loved hunting. Louis's favorite hunting grounds were at Fontainebleau.
3 The horse appears to have four front legs. Where writers and editors refer to "drafts," art historians prefer the Italian word pentimenti, meaning "regrets." Natoire's original placement of the horse's legs was imperfect, so he painted over them. Over the years the paint became transparent and the original legs became visible. Students see this and learn how an artist refines a work.
4 Educated denizens of the Rococo period would recognize the classic pose of an ancient river god, making this landscape a modern Arcadia.
5 Here the literary theme, "Nature tamed by Culture," is arriving by horseback. Don't be fooled by the milkmaid's outfit. The pale complexion, high heels, and pearl necklace (not to mention the outfit her horse is wearing) mark the girl as a rusticating city-dweller.
6 This "natural man" serves a counterpoint to the pastyfaced, rouge-wearing fop who escorts the ersatz milkmaid.
7 This is not just any hunting cap but a fur-trimmed Cossack hat. To the Rococoera French, Russian fashion was hip.
8 Rococo paintings were sometimes designed as square panels to fit over door frames. At some point this painting was taken down from the doorway, and the portion containing the dog's body was cropped, so that the work could fit inside a rectangular frame. During a cleaning the dog's head appeared; someone had painted a rock over it.
9 Not as well-dressed as her mistress, this city dweller is from a lower social stratum. Hence her gaze is held by the herdsman, her country equal. In this painting, all class conflict is resolved by Nature and Natoire.
