id: 150027 accession number: 1980.241 share license status: CC0 url: https://clevelandart.org/art/1980.241 updated: 2024-03-26 01:59:45.697000 Card Game at "le Père Martin", 1859. Adolphe-Félix Cals (French, 1810–1880). Oil on fabric; unframed: 49.7 x 60.7 cm (19 9/16 x 23 7/8 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Bequest of Noah L. Butkin 1980.241 title: Card Game at "le Père Martin" title in original language: series: series in original language: creation date: 1859 creation date earliest: 1859 creation date latest: 1859 current location: creditline: Bequest of Noah L. Butkin copyright: --- culture: France, 19th century technique: oil on fabric department: Modern European Painting and Sculpture collection: Mod Euro - Painting 1800-1960 type: Painting find spot: catalogue raisonne: --- CREATORS * Adolphe-Félix Cals (French, 1810–1880) - artist After taking some printmaking and drawing lessons, Adolphe Félix Cals entered the studio of Cogniet (q.v.) at the École des Beaux-Arts in 1828. His academic training resulted in a warm palette and an attention to detail, but at the same time he also developed an unusual interest in depicting the wretched existence of the poor. In the 1830s he went his own course and mostly painted landscapes around Paris. He made his debut at the Salon in 1835 and exhibited regularly until 1870, although he initially received little recognition for his landscapes and genre scenes that addressed social issues and reflected his own impoverished existence. Cals married a young aristocrat, Ernance de Provisy, who eventually went insane. He then raised their daughter, who suffered the same fate as her mother. In 1848 Cals met the art dealer "le Père Martin" who steadily supported him and other painters, such as Millet (q.v.) and Corot (q.v.). Another meeting that proved crucial to Cals was one with Count Doria in 1858, who became his most important patron. After several rejections of his work at the Salon, Cals participated in the Salon des Refusés in 1863. Cals, who had lived and worked mainly in and around Paris all his life, then left the city for Normandy (Honfleur and the Saint Siméon farm) in 1871 and remained there until his death. He was a close friend of Jongkind (q.v.), and in 1873 the two were together in Honfleur, where many other like-minded artists such as Boudin (q.v.) gathered to study out of doors. In 1874 Cals participated in the first impressionist exhibition and continued to do so until 1879. His style evolved accordingly, and he applied a much freer brush stroke in his later work. Art critic Edmond About, who was usually not very generous with compliments, characterized Cals as the most sincere and the most genuine artist he had ever known. --- measurements: Unframed: 49.7 x 60.7 cm (19 9/16 x 23 7/8 in.) state of the work: edition of the work: support materials: inscriptions: inscription: Signed in reddish brown paint upper left: Cals 1859 translation: remark: --- CURRENT EXHIBITIONS title: The Realist Tradition: French Painting and Drawing 1830 - 1900 opening date: 1980-11-12T05:00:00 The Realist Tradition: French Painting and Drawing 1830 - 1900. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 12, 1980-January 18, 1981). title: Year in Review: 1980 opening date: 1981-06-24T04:00:00 Year in Review: 1980. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (June 24-July 19, 1981). title: Faces of Impressionism: Portraits from American Collections opening date: 1999-10-10T00:00:00 Faces of Impressionism: Portraits from American Collections. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (May 28-July 30, 2000). --- LEGACY EXHIBITIONS * {'description': 'CMA; Brooklyn Museum; Saint Louis Art Museum; Glasgow Art Gallery and Museum. The Realist Tradition: French Painting and Drawing 1830-1900 (1980-82), 167, no. 141 (repr.). Text by Gabriel P. Weisberg.', 'opening_date': '1900-01-01T00:00:00'} * {'description': 'The Cleveland Museum of Art (5/28/00 - 7/30/00); "Faces of Impressionism: Portraits from American Collections", not in exh. cat.', 'opening_date': '2000-05-28T00:00:00'} --- PROVENANCE Nicolas Toussaint Hadengue [1817-1877] and Marie Sandras Hadengue [1827-1893], Paris date: Probably 1859-1880 footnotes: *
Mlle. Hadengue” is inscribed on the back of the canvas; this notation may refer to Marie Sandras Hadengue, who probably consigned the painting to Hôtel Drouot in 1880, three years after her husband Nicolas’s death.  The painting was certainly in the Hadengue collection: it appears in the 1880 Drouot sale, and furthermore, Nicolas and Cals were friends. The Hadengue family owned several paintings by the artist, including three portraits of Nicolas – one for each of their children. Nicolas found his success in the textile mills of northern France, and bought a number of paintings from artists working at the time. 
citations: (Hadengue-Sandras sale, Hôtel Drouot, Paris, Feb. 2-3, 1880, no. 6) date: 1880 footnotes: *
In the Drouot sale catalogue, the painting is titled “La partie de piquet, effet de lampe.”  “Piquet” refers to “Spades,” and so the title translates to “Game of Spades by lamplight.”  Although the painting is not reproduced in the catalogue, this description, along with the dimensions given and the reference to its oval shape, make the painting a clear match for the Cleveland picture.
citations: (Sale, Hôtel Drouot, March 3, 1978, lot 96, sold to Galerie François Delestre) date: 1978 footnotes: citations: (Galerie François Delestre, Paris, sold to Noah L. and Muriel S. Butkin) date: 1978 footnotes: citations: Noah L. [1918-1980] and Muriel S. Butkin [1915-2008], Cleveland, OH, bequeathed to the Cleveland Museum of Art as a result of disclaimer by Muriel S. Butkin date: 1978-1980 footnotes: citations: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH date: 1980- footnotes: citations: --- fun fact: digital description: wall description: --- RELATED WORKS --- CITATIONS Estate of Noah L. Butkin, Bequests to Cleveland Museum of Art as a result of disclaimer by Murel S. Butkin. Estates, Gifts, and Funds, Series 1, Box 2:14. Cleveland Museum of Art Archives.

page number: url: François Delestre, email to Victoria Sears Goldman, Dec. 8, 2014, in CMA curatorial file. page number: url: Hôtel Drouot. Aquarelles, dessins, gouaches, pastels, cʹeramiques, sculptures, tableaux modernes. March 3, 1978. page number: url: François Delestre, email to Victoria Sears Goldman, Dec. 8, 2014, in CMA curatorial file page number: url: Hôtel Drouot. Tableaux modernes. Feb. 2-3, 1880. page number: url: Weisberg, Gabriel P. The Realist Tradition: French Painting and Drawing, 1830-1900. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1980. page number: url: Philippe de Frémont, email to Victoria Sears Goldman, Nov. 20, 2015, in CMA curatorial file. page number: url: Philippe de Frémont, email to Victoria Sears Goldman, Nov. 22, 2015, in CMA curatorial file. page number: url: Hôtel Drouot. Tableaux modernes. Feb. 2-3, 1880. page number: url: 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. 100-101, Vol. I, no. 37 url: --- IMAGES web: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1980.241/1980.241_web.jpg print: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1980.241/1980.241_print.jpg full: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1980.241/1980.241_full.tif