The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 18, 2024

Children Dancing

Children Dancing

c. 1650

circle of Le Nain

(French)
France, 17th century
oil on canvas
Framed: 115 x 146 x 9.5 cm (45 1/4 x 57 1/2 x 3 3/4 in.); Unframed: 92 x 120.2 cm (36 1/4 x 47 5/16 in.)
Gift of Mrs. Salmon P. Halle in memory of Salmon Portland Halle 1957.489
Location: not on view

Description

Antoine, Louis, and Mathieu Le Nain were brothers who ran a collective studio in Paris from around 1630 until 1648, when Antoine and Louis died. Mathieu continued to produce work under their name "Le Nain" throughout the 1650s. Of the museum's four paintings that have been called "Le Nain" (1958.174, 1958.175.1, 1958.175.2), this work has held its attribution to Mathieu the longest. With his back to the viewer, a musician sits in shadow while a group of children pose patiently in a chain-like formation, awaiting the start of their dance. Because of its reliance on order and collaboration, dancing symbolized familial harmony. The attention to the individuality of the children suggest a family portrait, while their wistful expressions and melancholic tone have led to the hypothesis that the children are portraits-both living and posthumous. The description of the intricate lace and the wearied expressions of the slim boys is characteristic of Mathieu's handling. However, the canvas has been attributed to one of Mathieu's followers, the Master of the Games, because of the static, brightly lit figures whose elongated shadows don't quite describe their forms.
  • Count Ottone Ponte di Scarnafigi of Sardinia (died 1788);
    Count Louis de Seyssel, Turin, sold to Salmon P. Halle, 1916
    Salmon P. Halle, upon his death, by inheritance to his wife.
    Mrs. Salmon P. Halle, by gift to the Cleveland Museum of Art, 1957.
  • The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966. Reproduced: p. 119 archive.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969. Reproduced: p. 119 archive.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 171 archive.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Catalogue of Paintings, Part 3: European Paintings of the 16th, 17th, and 18th Centuries. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1982. Reproduced: p. 94; Mentioned: p. 95-96
    Thuillier, Jacques. Les frères Le Nain. Dijon: Éditions Faton, 2016. Reproduced: p. 176-177, no. 53
    Passot, Sebastien. ""Are You Sure This Is What He Means?" Considerations on Dress Terminology in French Sources and Their Subsequent Translation." In Structuring Fashion: Foundation Garments Through History. Frank Matthias Kammel, and Johannes Pietsch, eds., 63-71. Munich: Bayerisches Nationalmuseum; Munich: Hirmer, 2019. Mentioned and reproduced: P. 65, fig. 3
  • The Triumph of French Painting: Seventeenth Century Masterpieces from the Museums of FRAME [FRAME]. Portland Art Museum, Portland, OR (organizer) (October 11, 2003-January 4, 2004); Birmingham Museum of Art, Birmingham, AL (January 25-April 11, 2004); Meadows Museum (April 30-July 25, 2004).
    Portland Art Museum, OR (10/11/2003 - 1/4/2004), Birmingham Museum of Art (1/25/2004 - 4/11/2004) and Meadows Museum, Southern Methodist University, Dallas (5/2/2004 - 7/25/2004): "The Triumph of French Painting: 17th Century Masterpieces from the Museums of FRAME", p. 70-71.
    Object Lessons: Cleveland Creates an Art Museum. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 7-September 8, 1991).
    CMA, June 7-September 8, 1991: "Object Lessons: Cleveland Creates an Art Museum."
    Paris, Grand Palais, 1978/79: "Les Frères Le Nain," cat. no. 53, pp. 216, 254, 266-67, repr. (Catalogue by Jacques thuillier and michel Laclotte).
    Les Frères Le Nain (The Brothers of Nain). Musée du Louvre, Paris, France (organizer) (October 3, 1978-January 8, 1979).
    La Peinture Francaise dans les Collections Americaines. Musée des Beaux-Arts de Bordeaux, F-33000 Bordeaux, France (organizer) (May 13-September 15, 1966).
    Musée de Bordeax, France, May-September 1966: "La Peinture française dans les collections américaines," cat. no. 9, plate 11.
    Toledo (Ohio) Museum of Art, 1947: "The Brothers Le Nain," cat. no. 13, repr.
    CMA, 1934: "Art of the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries," no catalogue.
  • {{cite web|title=Children Dancing|url=false|author=Le Nain|year=c. 1650|access-date=18 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1957.489