JEAN-BAPTISTE OUDRY
1686-1755
64 Park Scene
Black and white chalk on tan paper; H: 35 cm (13^13 /i6 in.);
W: 51.5 cm (20 y 4 in.)
8y.GB.i 3
MARKS AND INSCRIPTIONS: At bottom right corner,
signed and dated JB (paraph) Oudry 1744 in brown ink.
PROVENANCE: Private collection, France (sale, Fournier,
Rouen, December 15, 1985, lot 49); art market, London.
EXHIBITIONS: None.
BIBLIOGRAPHY: None.THIS IS ONE OF ROUGHLY FIFTY KNOWN DRAWINGS BY
Oudry showing park scenes—mainly of large scale and
drawn on blue-green-to-gray or tan paper—that date
from between 1744 and 1747. Many of them depict the
gardens of the prince de Guise's chateau at Arcueil, al-
though other similar settings may have been employed
for some of the views. The chateau and surrounding set-
ting were destroyed shortly after Oudry made these
studies, which provide the best record of them. H. Op-
perman has noted that the vast majority of figures ap-
pearing in this series of drawings were added later by
other artists,^1 but it is not at all certain that this was the
case in the Museum's example, given the full graphic and
aesthetic integration of figures into their surrounding
setting.i. J.-B. Oudry 1686-1755, exh. cat. (Grand Palais, Paris, 1982),
p. 234.158 FRENCH SCHOOL • OUDRY