The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 18, 2024

Still Life with Dead Birds and a Basket of Oysters

Still Life with Dead Birds and a Basket of Oysters

c. 1860–80
(French, 1845–1893)
France, 19th century
oil on fabric
Unframed: 46 x 55.3 cm (18 1/8 x 21 3/4 in.)
Bequest of Noah L. Butkin 1980.281
Location: not on view

Description

Against a dark brown background, Ribot painted a basket filled with oysters. Light coming from the left is gently cast over the wicker basket. A dead magpie, with its white chest and long black beak, emerges from the shadows at the left. This bird, along with the partridge in the foreground, the jay toward the back, and what appears to be a sparrow at the right, are probably located in a kitchen, where preparations for cooking will soon begin. Germain Ribot, who painted genre (everyday life) scenes and still lifes, was the son of the more famous Théodule-Augustin Ribot (1823-1891), known for his working-class and peasant subjects.
  • K. Wyndham. Sale, London, Christie's, 1 April 1977 (lot 105, repr.), Huîtres et perdrix, for £1,700 to Shepherd Gallery, New York. Mr. and Mrs. Noah L. Butkin, Cleveland. Bequeathed to the CMA in 1980
  • Argencourt, Louise d', and Roger Diederen. Catalogue of Paintings. Pt. 4. European Paintings of the 19th Century. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1974. Mentioned and reproduced: P. 540-541, Vol. II, no. 188
    Delapierre, Emmanuelle. "Dans la Cuisine de Ribot: le Realisme de l'Objet." In Théodule Ribot, 1823-1891: Une Délicieuse Obscurité. Emmanuelle Delapierre, Luc Georget, Gabriel Weisberg, eds., 58-117. Paris: LienArt, 2021. Mentioned and reproduced: P. 102-103, no. 24
  • Théodule Ribot (1823-1891): A Delightful Darkness. Musée des Augustins, Toulouse, France (October 16, 2021-January 2, 2022) https://www.augustins.org/en/exhibition-theodule-ribot; Musée des Beaux-Arts, Marseille, Marseille, France (February 10-May 15, 2022); Musée des Beaux-Arts de Caen, Caen, France (organizer) (June 11-October 2, 2022) https://mba.caen.fr/exposition/theodule-ribot.
    Breaking the Mold: The Legacy of the Noah L. and Muriel S. Butkin Collection of Nineteenth-Century French Art. Snite Museum, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN (organizer) (September 2-December 2, 2012).
    Snite Museum of Art, Notre Dame University, South Bend, IN (8/26/2012 - 11/15/2012): "Breaking the Mold: The Legacy of Noah L. and Muriel S. Butkin Collection of Nineteenth-Century French Art", ex. cat, no. 62, p. 182-183.
    Year in Review: 1980. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (June 24-July 19, 1981).
    The Realist Tradition: French Painting and Drawing 1830 - 1900. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 12, 1980-January 18, 1981).
    CMA. Chardin and the Still-Life Tradition in France (1979), 56, 86, 90, no. 24 (repr. in color).
    CMA; Brooklyn Museum; Saint Louis Art Museum; Glasgow Art Gallery and Museum. The Realist Tradition: French Painting and Drawing 1830-1900 (1980-82), 240, no. 211 (repr.). Text by Gabriel P. Weisberg.
  • {{cite web|title=Still Life with Dead Birds and a Basket of Oysters|url=false|author=Germain Ribot|year=c. 1860–80|access-date=18 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1980.281