NARRATOR:
This deceptively simple composition was painted when the 17th-century French artist Louise Moillon was only 20 years old. In it, she manages to create a dynamic balance between the large, low bowl of cherries on the right, and the smaller, more upright bowl of strawberries and basket of gooseberries on the left.
In the foreground, Moillon uses a sprig of currants and droplets of water to show off her remarkable ability to create the illusion of reality, at the same time subtly linking the two halves of the composition. The strict geometry of the setting is relieved by delightful details such as the dancing cherry stems.
Famed for the smooth, polished perfection of her technique, Moillon had a pristine vision of the world sharply at odds with the trials of her own life. As a Protestant in Catholic France and a woman in an overwhelmingly male profession, times were not easy for her. Discouraged from tackling the more prestigious, and supposedly more difficult realm of history painting, she confined herself almost exclusively to still life. Today she’s recognized as one of the great pioneers of the genre.
Still Life with Cherries, Strawberries and Gooseberries
1630
Louise Moillon (French, 1610-1696)
On View
Louise Moillon was one of the finest still-life painters in France in the first half of the 17th century. This spectacular painting, one of the few examples by Moillon in an American collection, was painted when the artist was 20 years of age. Her specialty was the meticulous rendering of fruits, and this still life epitomizes her success, displaying a restrained elegance and an idealized, classical perfection in all its components. Gooseberries, strawberries, cherries and a sprig of currants are represented as flawless specimens. The pristine blue-and-white porcelain bowls, the droplets of water and the small basket reflect her conservative but intense and highly ordered vision of the world. Whether the still-life paintings by Moillon and her French contemporaries, including Jacques Linard, lacked or eschewed the sophistication and panache of their Dutch counterparts, it is apparent that these painters embraced an entirely different aesthetic—one that was quieter, more contemplative and still satisfying in its own right.
Details
- Artist Name: Louise Moillon (French, 1610-1696)
- Title: Still Life with Cherries, Strawberries and Gooseberries
- Date: 1630
- Medium: Oil on panel
- Dimensions: 12-5/8 x 19-1/8 in. (32.1 x 48.6 cm)
- Credit Line: The Norton Simon Foundation
- Accession Number: F.1972.36.2.P
- Copyright: © The Norton Simon Foundation
Object Information
Owen Grazebrook, Stourton Castle, Stourbridge, Worcestershire, 1920 (sale, London, Sotheby's, 25 November 1970, lot 8, as Still Life, to);
[Duits, Ltd., London, stock no. 2007, sold 21 April 1972 to];
[Edward Speelman, Ltd., London, sold 31 August 1972 to];
The Norton Simon Foundation.
[Duits, Ltd., London, stock no. 2007, sold 21 April 1972 to];
[Edward Speelman, Ltd., London, sold 31 August 1972 to];
The Norton Simon Foundation.
Reinstallation of Galleries: Art History of the 17th and 18th Century Gains Fresh Dimension
- Norton Simon Museum, 1993-09-02 to 1995-08-13
Significant Objects: The Spell of Still Life
- Norton Simon Museum, 2012-07-20 to 2013-01-21
Three Centuries of French Art: Selections from The Norton Simon, Inc. Museum of Art and The Norton Simon Foundation_1
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