id: 148958 accession number: 1977.116 share license status: CC0 url: https://clevelandart.org/art/1977.116 updated: 2024-03-26 01:59:40.582000 The Curious One, 1823. Antoine Pierre Mongin (French, 1761–1827). Oil on paper mounted to canvas; unframed: 43.5 x 34.6 cm (17 1/8 x 13 5/8 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Noah L. Butkin 1977.116 title: The Curious One title in original language: series: series in original language: creation date: 1823 creation date earliest: 1823 creation date latest: 1823 current location: creditline: Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Noah L. Butkin copyright: --- culture: France, 19th century technique: oil on paper mounted to canvas department: Modern European Painting and Sculpture collection: Mod Euro - Painting 1800-1960 type: Painting find spot: catalogue raisonne: --- CREATORS * Antoine Pierre Mongin (French, 1761–1827) - artist Few documents have survived relating to Antoine-Pierre Mongin's life, and one can only attempt its reconstruction by interpreting the works that have survived. He studied at the London Royal Academy of Arts from 1782 to 1785 and exhibited regularly at the Paris Salon between 1791 and 1824. Mongin painted many subjects-rural and urban landscapes, scenes of military life, genre scenes and those inspired by literature. He also narrated subjects from French history ranging from Joan of Arc to Napoleon.1 Almost all his works that have appeared at auction since 1920 are gouaches, and only a half-dozen of his paintings have been recorded.2 Since the 1975 exhibition French Painting 1774-1830: The Age of Revolution, publications have brought to light additional information about him. A book, published in 1977 about Godefroy Engelmann, one of the initiators of lithography in France, points out the fundamental role that Mongin played in Engelmann's establishment in Paris in 1816.3 Mongin, who knew Paris's artistic milieu, had propagated lithography even before Engelmann arrived. He captured the interest of writer and theoretician Quatremère de Quincy, but especially of the artists Bertin (q.v.), Girodet (q.v.), and Carle Vernet (1758-1836). Bernard Jacqué, curator of the Musée de l'Impression sur Étoffes in Mulhouse, recently researched another facet of Mongin's artistic talent: he designed wallpaper for Jean Zuber & Compagnie in 1802.4 His panoramic landscapes established a new fashion, and designs such as the Gardens of France of 1821 were still being printed in the late 1840s.5 1. Robert Rosenblum, French Painting 1774-1830: The Age of Revolution, exh. cat., Paris/Detroit/New York (1975), 553. 2. Ibid., 553. 3. Michel Melot, review of Léon Lang's book, Godefroy Engelmann imprimeur-lithographe: Les incunables, 1814-1817 (Colmar, France, 1977), in "Les premières lithographies françaises," Nouvelles de l'estampe no. 34-35 (July-October 1977). 4. Bernard Jacqué, Le papier peint, décor d'illusion (Barembach, France, 1987). 5. London sale, Christie's (3 July 1990), lot 129, p. 143. --- measurements: Unframed: 43.5 x 34.6 cm (17 1/8 x 13 5/8 in.) state of the work: edition of the work: support materials: inscriptions: inscription: Signed lower left: P. Mongin/1823. [effaced] Inscribed on wall lower right: institution de jeunes demo[iselles] / dirigee par mme wachsam translation: remark: --- CURRENT EXHIBITIONS title: Year in Review: 1977 opening date: 1977-12-28T05:00:00 Year in Review: 1977. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (December 28, 1977-January 22, 1978). title: Impressionist Gardens opening date: 2010-07-31T00:00:00 Impressionist Gardens. National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh (July 31-October 17, 2010); Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid, Spain (November 23, 2010-February 27, 2011). --- LEGACY EXHIBITIONS * {'description': "Paris. Salon (1824), no. 1236, Le curieux; étude d'après nature.", 'opening_date': None} * {'description': 'Paris, Grand Palais; Detroit Institute of Arts; New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art. French Painting 1774-1830: The Age of Revolution (1974-75), 270 (repr.), no. 132. Text by Robert Rosenblum.', 'opening_date': '1974-01-01T00:00:00'} * {'description': 'National Gallery of Scotland (7/31/2010 - 10/17/2010) and Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza (11/23/2010 - 2/27/2011): "Impressionist Gardens"', 'opening_date': '2010-07-31T00:00:00'} --- PROVENANCE Thomas Robinson, Providence. date: footnotes: citations: His sale, New York, Moore's Art Galleries, 16-18 November 1886 (lot 184), Young Ladies' Institute, 17 x 12ž in., as by V. Bertin. date: footnotes: citations: Wendell P. Colton. date: footnotes: citations: Victor D. Spark, New York. date: footnotes: citations: Bought by Mr. and Mrs. Noah L. Butkin, 20 November 1977. Given to the CMA in 1977. date: footnotes: citations: --- fun fact: digital description: wall description: --- RELATED WORKS --- CITATIONS The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. page number: Reproduced: p. 205 url: https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1978/page/n225 Lurie, Ann Tzeutschler. “Ferdinand Georg Waldmüller in the Cleveland Museum of Art: Portrait of Crescentia, Countess Zichy (later Countess Széchenyi) with a Parrot and a Camellia in a Mountainous Landscape.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 81, no. 1 (1994): 3-17. page number: Mentioned: p. 16 url: https://www.jstor.org/stable/25161437 Argencourt, Louise d', and Roger Diederen. Catalogue of Paintings. Pt. 4. European Paintings of the 19th Century. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1974. page number: Mentioned and reproduced: P. 463-465, Vol. II, no. 160 url: --- IMAGES web: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1977.116/1977.116_web.jpg print: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1977.116/1977.116_print.jpg full: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1977.116/1977.116_full.tif