The cook (Monet)
The cook , also Monsieur Paul ( French Le Père Paul ), is a painting by Claude Monet from 1882. The picture, painted in oil on canvas, has a height of 64.5 cm and a width of 52.1 cm. It shows the chef, restaurant and hotel owner Paul Antoine Graff, whose guest Monet was during a stay in Pourville on the English Channel . The painting belongs to the collection of the Austrian Belvedere Gallery in Vienna .
Image description
In this painting, Monet portrayed the chef Paul Antoine Graff. As a chest piece, it shows the head and upper body of the man depicted in his white work clothes with a typical chef's hat . The image dissolves in the lower area of the picture and merges into the light background, creating an oval composition here. Monsieur Paul has turned his head to the right shoulder and is looking towards the left edge of the picture. The dark eyes do not seem to grasp anything concrete, but rather the look suggests looking ahead. His appearance includes a shaggy black and gray full beard that almost covers the mouth with its closed lips and the protruding chin. Monet modulated the wrinkled face with powerful brushstrokes by highlighting the distinctive nose in color. The author Melissa MacQuillan sees “pride and strength of character” in the facial expression. Monet himself described the picture as "esquisse curieuse" ( strange sketch ). With the crooked chef's hat, the shaggy beard and the facial features full of character, he created a portrait of great liveliness. This also includes a refined color scheme, in which the dark beard stands out clearly from the white clothing and the reddish-brown incarnate contrasts with the delicate blue-gray tones of the background. The picture is signed "Claude Monet 82" on the upper right.
Portrait of a host
On February 15, 1882, Monet arrived in Pourville to paint the landscape on the Normandy coast over the next two months . He lived there in the Hotel A la Renommée des Galettes , which had a restaurant attached. The owner was the chef Paul Antoine Graff (1823-1893) from Alsace . The specialty of the host known as Le Père Paul were the eponymous galettes . On a later visit Monet used these puff pastry cakes as a template for the still life Les Galettes (private collection). On the day of arrival, Monet wrote a letter to Alice Hoschedé who regretted not having come to Pourville earlier. He described Père Paul as an “excellent cook” and was impressed by his accommodation: “The landscape is very beautiful… You couldn't be closer to the sea than I am now, right on the beach, the waves reach the foundation of the house. “In addition to the portrait of Monsieur Graff, Monet also painted the portrait of Mrs. Graff. The painting La Mère Paul ( Fogg Art Museum , Cambridge (Massachusetts)) shows Madame Graff in dark clothing, also as a chest piece. Monet added the terrier Follette to her as a faithful companion. The two portraits of the Graff couple were possibly created as Monet's recognition of their hospitality.
Claude Monet:
Les Galettes , 1882
Claude Monet:
La Mère Paul , 1882
.jpg)
The paintings The Cook and La Mère Paul are among the few portraits that Monet painted after the death of his first wife Camille in 1879. Other pictures are the depiction of his son Michel Monet with bobble hat from 1880 or his self-portrait from 1886. Outside of the family circle, the portrait of the fisherman Poly ( Musée Marmottan Monet , Paris) from 1886 was created outside the family circle . All of these portraits are chest-pieces executed. With his full beard and distinctive facial features, the fisherman Poly has some similarities with the portrayal of Père Paul in the painting The Cook . The author Melissa MacQuillan notes an "almost physiognomic exaggeration" in the Graff portrait and the portrait of Poly , which is reminiscent of "his youthful beginnings as a caricaturist". The art historian Richard R. Brettell also draws comparisons between the portrait Der Koch and the ironic drawings from Monet's youth. Several such caricatures have survived from the late 1850s, including the portrait of Mario Uchard ( Art Institute of Chicago ).
Claude Monet:
Michel Monet with bobble hat , 1880
Claude Monet:
Self-Portrait , 1886
Claude Monet:
Poly , 1886
Claude Monet:
Mario Uchard , 1858
Provenance
The painting The Cook was a gift from Monet to the depicted Paul Antoine Graff. After his death, the painting came into the possession of the gallery owner Paul Durand-Ruel in 1899 via the Paris branch of the Knoedler art dealer . He loaned the picture in 1903 for the exhibition Development of Impressionism in Painting and Sculpture at the Vienna Secession , at which the counterpart Madame Paul could also be seen. The Modern Gallery , the predecessor institution of today's Austrian Gallery Belvedere , then acquired the painting Der Koch .
literature
- Bärbel Holaus, Elisabeth Hülmbauer, Claudia Wöhrer: Art of the 19th century. Inventory catalog of the Austrian Gallery of the 19th Century . Vol. 3 L – R, Austrian Gallery Belvedere and Brandstetter, Vienna 1998, ISBN 3-85447-765-1 .
- Austrian Gallery (Hrsg.): French art in the Austrian Gallery in Vienna, collection catalog of the gallery of the 19th century . Galerie Welz, Salzburg 1991, ISBN 3-85349-156-1 .
- Melissa MacQuillan: Portrait Painting of the French Impressionists . Rosenheimer Verlagshaus, Rosenheim 1986, ISBN 3-475-52508-9 .
- Richard R. Brettell: Impression, painting quickly in France, 1860-1890 . Yale University Press, New Haven 2000, ISBN 0-300-08447-1 .
- Daniel Wildenstein : Monet: catalog raisonné, Nos. I-968 , Wildenstein Institute, Paris and Taschen, Cologne 1996, ISBN 3-8228-8759-5 .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ The size specification 64.5 × 52.1 cm can be found in the Austrian gallery (publisher): French art in the Austrian gallery in Vienna, collection catalog of the gallery of the 19th century , p. 106. Deviating from this there is the specification 65 × 52 cm in Bärbel Holaus, Elisabeth Hülmbauer, Claudia Wöhrer: Art of the 19th Century. Inventory catalog of the Austrian Gallery of the 19th Century , p. 99.
- ↑ a b c d e Melissa MacQuillan: Portrait painting of the French Impressionists , p. 168.
- ^ A b Austrian Gallery: French Art in the Austrian Gallery in Vienna, collection catalog of the 19th Century Gallery , p. 106.
- ↑ Bärbel Holaus, Elisabeth Hülmbauer, Claudia Wöhrer: 19th century art. Inventory catalog of the Austrian Gallery of the 19th Century , p. 99.
- ↑ Quotes from Melissa MacQuillan: Portrait painting of the French Impressionists , p. 168.
- ↑ a b Richard R. Brettell: Impression, painting quickly in France, 1860-1890 , p. 96.
- ^ Daniel Wildenstein: Monet: catalog raisonné , vol. II, p. 72, no. 744.