The Old Oak

c. 1870

Jules Dupré

Associated Names
Jules Dupré

Artist, French, 1811 - 1889

The painting depicts a landscape with a field, trees, and a dramatic cloudy sky. Grass, rocks, and a group of large trees are visible in the center of the composition. Below the trees, there is a small shape that could be a person looking up. Farther back, there are some small triangular structures that might be houses. The brushstrokes are expressive and not much detail is visible in the smaller shapes. The grass and foliage are painted in earthy tones of brown, orange, and green, while the sky is blue with areas of thick gray and white clouds.

Media Options

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    oil on canvas

  • Credit Line

    Gift of R. Horace Gallatin

  • Dimensions

    overall: 32.1 x 41.5 cm (12 5/8 x 16 5/16 in.)
    framed: 55.3 x 64.8 x 8.3 cm (21 3/4 x 25 1/2 x 3 1/4 in.)

  • Accession Number

    1949.1.5

More About this Artwork

Article:  Portraits of Trees, a Favorite Subject of Artists

Many artists have painted, photographed, and drawn nature’s magnificent sculptures.

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

(Georges Petit, Paris); purchased 1880 by (M. Knoedler & Co., Inc, London, New York, and Paris); sold 1880 to Thomas A. Howell, Brooklyn; (his sale, Fifth Avenue Art Galleries, New York, 27 February 1889, no. 47); purchased by (M. Knoedler & Co., Inc., London, New York, and Paris); sold to Samuel F. Barger [1832-1914], New York; by inheritance to his daugher Maud Barger-Wallach [1870-1954]; on consignment from 1917 with (M. Knoedler & Co., Inc., London, New York, and Paris); sold 5 February 1918 to R. Horace Gallatin [1871-1948], New York;[1] gift 1949 to NGA.
[1] Provenance derived from Knoedler records at Getty Research Institute and Gallatin aquisitions notebooks, NGA Gallery Archives, copies in NGA curatorial files.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1961

  • Extended loan for use by the Attorney General, U.S. Department of Justice, Washington, D.C., 1961-1972.

1979

  • Jules Dupré 1811-1889, The Dixon Gallery and Gardens, Memphis, 1979, no. 17.

1987

  • Loan for display with permanent collection (in conjunction with the exhibition From Arcadia to Barbizon: A Journey in French Landscape), Dixon Gallery and Gardens, Memphis, 1987-1988.

1989

  • Extended loan for use by General Brent Scowcroft, Director, National Security Council, The White House, Washington, D.C., 1989-1993.

2011

  • Impressionist and Post-Impressionist Masterpieces from the National Gallery of Art, The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; The National Art Center, Tokyo; Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art, 2011, not in catalogue (shown only in Tokyo and Kyoto).

Bibliography

1965

  • Summary Catalogue of European Paintings and Sculpture. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1965: 45.

1968

  • National Gallery of Art. European Paintings and Sculpture, Illustrations. Washington, 1968: 38, repro.

1975

  • European Paintings: An Illustrated Summary Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1975: 116, repro.

1982

  • Aubrun, Marie-Madeleine. Jules Dupré: catalogue raisonné de l'oeuvre. Supplément Nantes, 1982: 43, no. S34, repro.

1985

  • European Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1985: 140, repro.

2000

  • Eitner, Lorenz. French Paintings of the Nineteenth Century, Part I: Before Impressionism. The Collections of the National Gallery of Art Systematic Catalogue. Washington, D.C., 2000: 243-244, color repro.

Inscriptions

lower left: Jules Dupré

Wikidata ID

Q20188733

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