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Sweet Melancholy
Joseph-Marie Vien (French, 1716–1809)1756
The Cleveland Museum of Art
Cleveland, United States
The chair, brazier, table, and the setting all show Vien's interest in bringing archaeological accuracy to a new level of precision. Yet his delicate handling and graceful palette derive squarely from 18th-century French painting. The gesture of the melancholic figure, with her head on her hand, has roots going back to the Renaissance. Nonetheless, the painting has a wistful rather than tragic tone. Indeed, images of women in interiors, contemplating a letter with longing or sadness, derive from earlier Dutch paintings of daily life, here transformed into an ancient context.
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Details
- Title: Sweet Melancholy
- Creator: Joseph-Marie Vien (French, 1716–1809)
- Date Created: 1756
- Physical Dimensions: Framed: 86.4 x 76.2 x 6.5 cm (34 x 30 x 2 9/16 in.); Unframed: 68 x 55 cm (26 3/4 x 21 5/8 in.)
- Provenance: Madame Marie-Thérèse Geoffrin [1699-1777], Paris, France, Jean Louis Antoine le Vaillant de Damery, Chevalier de l’Ordre Royal Militaire de St-Louis [1723-1803], Comte Jean-Baptiste Dubarry [1723-1794], Toulouse, France, (Sale: Jean-Pierre-Baptiste Le Brun and Pierre Remy, Paris, Dubarry sale, Nov. 21, 1774, no. 93, probably bought in), (Pierre Remy, Paris, France), Louis François, 6th Prince de Conti [1717-1776], Paris, France, (Sale: Pierre Remy, Paris, France, Prince de Conti sale, April 17, 1777, no. 732, sold to Quenet), Quenet, Paris, France, Jean Paul André des Rasins, Marquis de Saint-Marc [1723-1818], Paris, France, by descent to his daughter, Marie de la Roze, Marie de la Roze, (Sale: Hôtel Drouot, Paris, Marquis de Saint-Marc sale, Paris, Feb. 23, 1859, no. 17), (Wildenstein & Company, New York, NY, sold to a private collector, UK), Private noble collection, UK, sold to Danny Katz and Simon Dickinson through William Thuillier, (William Thuillier, Paris, France, sold to Danny Katz and Simon Dickinson), (Danny Katz and Simon Dickinson, London, the latter bought out by the former), Danny Katz, London, sold to Emmanuel Moatti and Jack Kilgore, (Emmanuel Moatti and Jack Kilgore, New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art), The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Ohio
- Type: Painting
- Rights: CC0
- External Link: https://clevelandart.org/art/1996.1
- Medium: oil on canvas
- Inscriptions: Signed lower right: "jos. m. vien / 1756"
- Fun Fact: Look closely—three strands of pearls appear in this painting.
- Department: European Painting and Sculpture
- Culture: France, 18th century
- Credit Line: Mr. and Mrs. William H. Marlatt Fund
- Collection: P - French 18th Century
- Accession Number: 1996.1
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