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Lawyer Going to Court
(18th and 19th Centuries )
A lawyer walks up a wind-blown street, presumably in the artist's native town of Senlis in north-central France. Although he specialized in allegorical paintings, such as "Daydreams," Couture urged his pupils to select subjects drawn from contemporary life. In this scene, the choice of subject and the spontaneity of treatment recall the works of Honoré Daumier (1809-79). The painting also demonstrates the artist's use of exposed areas of white, primed canvas to lend texture and immediacy to his technique.
Inscription
Provenance
Provenance (from the French provenir, 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody, or location of a historical object. Learn more about provenance at the Walters.
Henry Walters, Baltimore, after 1909 [mode of acquisition unknown] [1]; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.
[1] This picture was formerly erroneously listed as coming from the Barbedienne Collection sold in Paris, 1892. No record of the painting appears in the catalogues of William and Henry Walters published as late as 1909. Edward Strahan in "Art Treasures of America" (ca. 1880, vol. 2, p. 99) notes a painting by Couture in the collection of Robert Hoe Senior, the description of which matches the Walters painting.
Exhibitions
| 2010-2011 | 19th Century Masterpieces from the Walters Art Museum. Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Santa Barbara; Jack S. Blanton Museum of Art, Austin. |
| 2002-2004 | A Magnificent Age: Masterpieces from the Walters Art Museum, Baltimore. The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore; The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City; Mint Museum of Art, Charlotte. |
| 2000-2002 | Triumph of French Painting: Masterpieces from Ingres to Matisse. Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore; Philbrook Museum of Art, Tulsa; Norton Museum of Art, West Palm Beach; Dayton Art Institute, Dayton; Royal Academy of Arts, London; Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo. |
| 1998-2001 | Highlights from the Collection. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore. |
| 1998 | Before Monet: Landscape Painting in France and Impressionist Masters: Highlights from The Walters Collection. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore. |
| 1995 | Parallels and Precedents: Baltimore's George A. Lucas Collection. Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore. |
| 1981 | Small Paintings from Famous Collections. Taft Museum of Art, Cincinnati. |
| 1951 | From Ingres to Gauguin: French Nineteenth Century Paintings Owned in Maryland. Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore. |
Conservation
| Date | Description | Narrative |
|---|---|---|
| 2/16/1938 | Treatment | cleaned; coated |
| 10/22/1951 | Treatment | cleaned |
| 2/2/1967 | Treatment | cleaned; other |
| 3/16/1981 | Examination | examined for loan |
| 3/23/1981 | Treatment | cleaned; coated |
| 3/1/1991 | Treatment | loss compensation; repaired; coated; other |
| 5/4/1995 | Examination | examined for condition |
| 11/1/1995 | Treatment | other |
| 11/9/1995 | Treatment | other |
| 3/9/1999 | Examination | examined for condition |
Measurements
H: 14 15/16 x W: 18 3/16 in. (38 x 46.2 cm); Framed H: 26 13/16 x W: 30 x D: 5 1/2 in. (68.1 x 76.2 x 13.97 cm)
Credit Line
Acquired by Henry Walters, after 1909
Location in Museum
Not on view
Accession Number
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
37.1204