
Gabriel Alexandre Decamps
French, 1803–1860
Cat, Weasel, and Rabbit
1836
This painting is based on a fable by Jean de La Fontaine in which a rabbit and a weasel ask a cat to settle an argument, only to be devoured by their would-be judge. Decamps made a number of paintings depicting scenes from La Fontaine’s fables, though in this case the narrative is less important than the naturalistic depiction of the animals and the forest setting.
Medium | Oil on canvas |
Dimensions | 9 1/2 x 13 1/2 in. (24.1 x 34.3 cm) Frame: 18 7/8 x 23 x 3 1/8 in. (47.9 x 58.4 x 7.9 cm) |
Object Number | 1955.699 |
Acquisition | Acquired by Sterling and Francine Clark, 1922 |
Status | Off View |
Image Caption
Gabriel Alexandre Decamps, Cat, Weasel, and Rabbit, 1836, Oil on canvas. The Clark Art Institute, 1955.699.
Bibliography
Provenance
Salomon Goldschmidt (until 1888, his sale, Georges Petit, Paris, 17 May 1888, no. 7, as Le Chat, Le Lapin et La Belette); George I. Seney, New York (until 1891, his sale, American Art Association, New York, 11–13 Feb. 1891, no. 237, sold to Knoedler); [Knoedler, New York, from 1891]; William Albert Slater, Washington (by 1894, d. 1919); [Knoedler, New York, sold to Clark, 1 June 1922]; Robert Sterling Clark (1922–55); Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1955.