Still Life of Citrons and Curaçao Oranges in a White Polylobed Dish

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Still Life of Citrons and Curaçao Oranges in a White Polylobed Dish

Artist Louyse Moillon (French, 1610 - 1696)

Place of OriginFrance

Dateabout 1630-34

DimensionsPainting: 19 5/16 × 25 3/16 in. (49.1 × 64 cm)
Frame: 26 1/2 × 33 × 1 3/4 in. (67.3 × 83.8 × 4.4 cm)

MediumOil on panel

ClassificationPaintings

Credit LinePurchased in honor of Lawrence W. Nichols, William Hutton Senior Curator, European and American Painting and Sculpture before 1900, 1992-2021

Object number

2021.5

On View

Toledo Museum of Art (2445 Monroe Street), Gallery, 24

DescriptionBefore a grey background, with strong light streaming in from the left, a white, ceramic dish is seen on a wooden surface. Therein are some dozen lemons and curacao oranges, along with their stems and nineteen leaves.

Label TextStarkly simple and deceptively complex at the same time, this still life features fresh, unblemished citrus fruits that seem so tangible they might almost occupy our real space. The asymmetrical composition and strong contrast of light and dark enhance the sense of reality, along with the skillful rendering of textures—from the smooth surfaces of the leaves, ceramic bowl, and wood table to the bumpy peel of the lemon-like citrons and the lightly dimpled skin of the curaçao oranges. Louyse Moillon came from a prosperous family of artists and art dealers in Paris, who taught her painting. She lived in a neighborhood with many Dutch Protestant refugees from the Southern Netherlands, including artists whose tradition of tabletop still lifes influenced her work. Moillon sold her first painting at age 19 and continued to find success throughout her relatively short career, producing only one known painting after her marriage at age 30 until she resumed painting again in her 60s. With her highly regarded paintings, she elevated the status of still life painting in France, where it had never been as admired as in the Netherlands. Louis XIII of France and Charles I of England were among the prominent collectors of her work.Exhibition HistoryGalerie Eric Coatalem, Natures mortes françaises du XVIIe siècle (2019), 2019, pp. 48-51.