Full Record |
| Title |
An Assemblage of Monkeys, in a Park, Dressed as Humans |
| Collection |
Bowes Museum, Barnard Castle |
| Artist |
Attributed to Watteau, François Louis Joseph (French painter and draftsman, 1758-1823) |
| Date Earliest |
about 1750 |
| Date Latest |
about 1790 |
| Description |
Mimicking as humans, a group of monkeys listen to one of them reading from a newspaper, whilst a young one is scratching the earth with a stick. The singerie genre appeared in Flanders in the seventeenth century. In this kind of painting, the monkeys are humanised to reveal the mediocrity of humanity and the futility of man's actions. Here we can therefore interpret the painting as a cynical view of the aristocracy and the clergy, as one of the monkeys is dressed as a priest. |
| Current Accession Number |
B.M.801 |
| Former Accession Number |
No. 562 |
| Subject |
landscape; animal (monkeys) |
| Measurements |
31.5 x 39.5 cm (estimate) |
| Material |
oil on canvas |
| Acquisition Details |
Bequeathed by the founders John and Joséphine Bowes 1885. |
| Provenance |
Probably bought from Lamer by Bowes, 24 July 1865, 45 francs; or Baron F. de Marenzi de Marensfeld, Brugges; Brugges sale, 13 May 1880, lot 285 as 'Watteau de Lille: Le contrat de mariage représenté par des singes costumés; B., 0.32 x 0. 43 m'. A. C. Lamer, Marchand de Curiosités, Objets d'art et tableaux, 16 rue Grange, Bateliere, Paris. |
| Principal Exhibitions |
Hidden Treasures, The Bowes Museum, Barnard Castle, 2001-2002. |
| Publications |
Maës, G., La vie et l'oeuvre de Louis Watteau (1731-1798) et François Watteau (1758-1823), dits 'Watteau de Lille', Thèse de doctorat d'Histoire de l'Art, Université de Paris X, 1994. |
| Notes |
This is no. 562 in MSS List of 1877 as 'Watteau de Lille'. Gaëtane Maës, in La vie et l'oeuvre de Louis Watteau (1731-1798) et François Watteau (1758-1823), dits 'Watteau de Lille', Thèse de doctorat d'Histoire de l'Art, Université de Paris X, 1994, Catalogue de Louis Watteau thinks that this painting does not appear to be by either Watteaus for stylistic reasons. The frieze-like composition, the blocked horizon and the way the landscape is treated do not correspond to these artists. A painter from the circle of Giuseppe de Gobbis (about 1730 - after 1775) executed a rather similar subject: 'A Singerie: Monkeys in Court Dress Merrymaking in a Cellar, Observed by an Elegant Couple'; canvas laid down on board; 56.3 x 70.8 cm. Christie's catalogue, 23 March 1990, lot 1. The range of dates given, 1750 - 1790, assumes that the painting is indeed from the time of Louis XVI. |
| Rights Owner |
The Bowes Museum, Barnard Castle, Co. Durham |
| Author |
Dr Maylis Hopewell-Curie |
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