Courtyard of the Artist's Studio

Description "Courtyard of the Artist's Studio" was not a study for a large-scale painting; rather, it was conceived of as a work of art in its own right and was, in fact, published in a folio of images of similar subjects in 1881. Nonetheless, this beautiful watercolor clearly communicates the reasons for Meissionier's renown during his lifetime, particularly his painstaking attention to historically accurate costumes and settings, which characterizes such paintings as "The Jovial Topper" (1865) and "The End of the Game of Cards" (1865), both in the collection of the Walters Art Museum (37.151 and 37.149).

Conservation

Date	Description	Narrative
4/18/1979	Examination	examined for exhibition
3/01/1982	Loan Consideration	examined for loan
11/13/1991	Loan Consideration	examined for loan
9/29/1992	Loan Consideration	{\rtf1\ansi\ansicpg1252\deff0\deflang1033{\fonttbl{\f0\fnil\fcharset0 Arial;}}\viewkind4\uc1\pard\fs20 examined for loan\par}
1/01/2002	Treatment	examined for exhibition; other

Exhibitions

• French Masterworks on Paper. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore. 1992.
• A Supple Brush: The Flowering of Continental Watercolors. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore. 1979.
• A Connoisseur's Portfolio: Nineteenth-century Drawings and Watercolors in the Walters Art Gallery. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore. 1983.
• French Master Drawings. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore. 1997-1998.
• A Discerning Eye: Nineteenth-century Drawings and Watercolors. Academy Art Museum, Easton. 1998-1999.
• Botanical Delights: Floral Motifs in 19th-Century Art. Government House, Annapolis; Strathmore Hall Art Center, North Bethesda; Academy Art Museum, Easton. 1998-1999.
• The Essence of Line: French Drawings from Ingres to Degas. The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore; Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore; Birmingham Museum of Art, Birmingham; Tacoma Art Museum, Tacoma. 2005-2006.

Provenance William T. Walters, Baltimore, before 1884 [mode of acquisition unknown]; Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1894, by inheritance; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.

Inscriptions "JF Meissonier / 1877" in brown watercolor in lower left

Credit Acquired by William T. Walters, before 1884