A Brawl in a Guard-room
Sébastien Bourdonc.1640s
Dulwich Picture Gallery
London, United Kingdom
"Bourdon trained as a painter in Paris and spent some time as a soldier before making a trip to Rome in 1634, where he was influenced by Pieter van Laer and his followers (the Bamboccianti).
In 1637 he returned to Paris via Venice. He was a founder member of the French Académie in 1648 and worked at the court of Queen Christina in Sweden (1652-4) and in Montpellier (1656-7), before settling again in Paris.
Bourdon's work is stylistically diverse; in the 1640s he came under the influence of Poussin, and in addition to painting genre and history subjects, he was also a talented portrait artist. A Brawl in a Guard-room is an example of the genre subjects painted by Bourdon in the manner of Van Laer."
- Title: A Brawl in a Guard-room
- Creator lifespan: 1616 - 1671
- Date: c.1640s
- Physical Dimensions: w606 x h749 cm
- Type: Painting
- Medium: Oil
- Work Notes: One of the genre subjects painted by Bourdon in the manner of Van Laer. DPG557 compares with 'Soldiers playing Cards outside their Tent' in the Gemlildegalerie, Kassel, dated 1643, and presumably dates from the same period.Version lent by Wildenstein to Realité exh., Paris, 1934.Bourdon BibliographyA. Félibien: Entretiens sur les vies et les ouvrages des plus excellens peintres anciens et modernes (Paris, 1666-88, Trévoux, 1725/R London, 1967) Guillet de Saint-Georges: 'Mémoire historique des principaux ouvrages de M. Bourdon lu ˆ l'Académie le samedi 7 Juin 1692', Mémoires inédits sur la vie et les ouvrages des membres de l'Académie Royale, ed. L. Dussieux, E. Soulier, P. de Chennevires, P. Mantz and A. de Montaiglon, i (Paris, 1854), pp. 87-103 C. Ponsonnailhe: Sébastien Bourdon, sa vie et son oeuvre (Paris, 1886) G. E. Fowle: The Biblical Paintings of Sébastien Bourdon (diss., U. Michigan, 1970; microfilm, Ann Arbor, 1981) Le Peinture française du XVIIe siècle dans les collections américaines (exh. cat. by P. Rosenberg, Paris, Grand Pal; New York, Met.; Chicago, IL, A. Inst.; 1982) Most recent look at Bourdon is Jacques Thuillier, Sebastien Bourdon 1616-1671 Catalogue critique et chronologique de l'oeuvre complet, 2000.Similar pictures:Paris, 18 May 1769, lot 170 ('Un Corps-de-Garde, peint sur toile par le même [Bourdon], dans sa bordure dorée, h. 14, l. 18.')
- Work Nationality: French
- Support: Canvas
- Provenance: London, Christie's, 20 Jun. 1903, lot 136 (as Karel Dujardin); London, Christie's, 12 May 1906, lot 100 (as 'le Nain'). Bt Agnew; Charles Fairfax Murray by 1907; Fairfax Murray Gift, 1911.
- Further Information: A Brawl in a Guard-room is an example of the genre subjects Bourdon painted in the manner of Van Laer. It shows soldiers indulging in drink and cards as a brawl commences between two others. A young child in the centre of the composition faces the viewer, his innocence highlighting the vices that unfold around him.
- Artist: Bourdon, Sébastien
- Acquisition Method: Fairfax Murray, Charles (Gift, 1911)
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