id: 166622 accession number: 2008.344 share license status: CC0 url: https://clevelandart.org/art/2008.344 updated: 2024-05-17 11:33:39.843000 Carcasses, 1840–1860. Alexandre-Gabriel Decamps (French, 1803–1860). Watercolor and gouache; sheet: 24.6 x 17.9 cm (9 11/16 x 7 1/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Bequest of Muriel Butkin 2008.344 title: Carcasses title in original language: series: series in original language: creation date: 1840–1860 creation date earliest: 1840 creation date latest: 1860 current location: creditline: Bequest of Muriel Butkin copyright: --- culture: France, 19th century technique: watercolor and gouache department: Drawings collection: DR - French type: Drawing find spot: catalogue raisonne: --- CREATORS * Alexandre-Gabriel Decamps (French, 1803–1860) - artist Decamps was born into a bourgeois family and as a young boy sent by his father to the Picardian countryside to experience the realities of peasant life. These formative years not only nurtured his interest for nature but also directed him toward an artistic career. He returned to Paris in 1816 and studied briefly with Étienne Bouhot (1780-1862), who painted architectural scenes. In 1818, Decamps joined the studio of Alexandre-Denis Abel de Pujol (1785-1861), and copied (Dutch) Old Master paintings in the Louvre. Unimpressed with his academic education, Decamps had become an independent artist by 1820. He earned an income and a reputation with satirical lithographs and anecdotal scenes that were popular with collectors. Decamps's Salon debut occurred in 1827, and the following year he became one of the first distinguished European artists to travel to Asia Minor and North Africa. He returned to Paris with countless drawings and sketches that would serve him for the rest of his career and quickly became one of the leading orientalist painters. He also renewed his earlier interest in lithography and published an album of his hunting scenes. In 1835, he made a journey to Italy, where he studied the works of Raphael (1485-1520) and Nicolas Poussin (1594-1665). Upon his return, he began painting biblical scenes, set against convincing depictions of Near Eastern landscapes, based on his earlier travels. He went to the forest of Fontainebleau in 1843-44 and befriended Dupré (q.v.). Decamps would revisit Fontainebleau ten years later and purchased a house there in 1857. He was one of the most successful and famous artists of this time. His patrons included the Marquis Mason, the Barons de Rothschild, and the Duc d'Orléans. He was elected to the Salon Jury in 1851 and kept this position until 1853. In 1855, at the Paris Exposition Universelle, his works were featured in a retrospective exhibition, along with those of Delacroix (q.v.) and Ingres (q.v.). Although he was a critically acclaimed and financially successful artist during his lifetime, Decamps's reputation quickly waned after his death in 1860. --- measurements: Sheet: 24.6 x 17.9 cm (9 11/16 x 7 1/16 in.) state of the work: edition of the work: support materials: description: beige wove paper watermarks: inscriptions: inscription: signed, lower right, in black gouache: Decamps; verso, upper right, in graphite: 73; upper center, in graphite: [illegible] [Bruget?] / a [Degert?] [all partially erased]; upper center, in graphite: (Decamps [written over previous inscription]; center, in graphite: 19 [circled]; lower right, in graphite: 19 x 12 2; lower left, in graphite: 82; lower right, in graphite: d559cfe 2 s translation: remark: --- CURRENT EXHIBITIONS title: French Master Drawings from the Collection of Muriel Butkin opening date: 2001-08-26T00:00:00 French Master Drawings from the Collection of Muriel Butkin. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (August 26-October 28, 2001); Dahesh Museum of Art (February 19-May 18, 2002). --- LEGACY EXHIBITIONS * {'description': 'French Drawings, Post Neo-Classicism, Colnaghi, London (1975), 24, no. 46.', 'opening_date': '1975-01-01T00:00:00'} * {'description': 'French Nineteenth Century Drawings, Pastels, and Watercolors, Shepherd Gallery, New York (1977), no. 22.', 'opening_date': '1977-01-01T00:00:00'} --- PROVENANCE [Colnaghi, London, 1975]. [Shepherd Gallery, New York, 1976-77]; purchased in 1977. date: footnotes: citations: --- fun fact: digital description: wall description: --- RELATED WORKS --- CITATIONS Exhibition of French drawings, post Neo-Classicism, 20 February-27 March 1975 : [held at] P. & D. Colnaghi & Co. Ltd / [catalogue compiled and introduction written by Jane Low]. page number: Referenced: cat. no. 46, p. 24 url: Rohowsky, Peter S. French Nineteenth Century Drawings, Pastels, Watercolors: Nov. 1977-Feb. 1978. New York: Shepherd Gallery Associates, 1977. page number: url: Foster, Carter E., Sylvain Bellenger, and Patrick Shaw Cable. French Master Drawings from the Collection of Muriel Butkin. [Cleveland, Ohio]: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2001. page number: Referenced: cat. no. 33, p. 76-77, Reproduced: p. 77 url: --- IMAGES web: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/2008.344/2008.344_web.jpg print: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/2008.344/2008.344_print.jpg full: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/2008.344/2008.344_full.tif