Still Life with Monkey, Fruits, and Flowers

Creator Name

Jean-Baptiste Oudry

Cultural Context

French; European

Date

Creation: 18th century

Source

Art Institute of Chicago

About the Work

Curationist Object Description

In this 18th-century French oil painting, a monkey—often associated with mischief and desire—is presented as an exoticized commodity on par with the opulent fruits and flowers, not as a living being, but as a staged element of an aristocratic vignette. Beyond its sensual Rococo aesthetic, the scene reflects global trade networks of the 18th century: the melon, pomegranate, and orchids depicted were not native to France and evoke the circulation of goods across continents. Their presence alongside the monkey signals the status and reach of elite collectors, who used such compositions to express power and wealth.

Art Institute of Chicago Object Description

Jean-Baptiste Oudry received numerous commissions from Louis XV of France, who admired his skill as a painter of animals and still lifes. The artist frequently combined his two specialties, as in this work, in which a monkey, an animal celebrated in this period for its mischievous and lustful character, snatches a few grapes. The French Rococo taste for the sensual is manifest in the lush, overripe quality of the fruits and flowers, reminiscent of 17th-century Flemish works that Oudry is known to have studied. Paintings such as this typically adorned dining rooms as part of an overall decorative scheme.

Work details

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Title

Still Life with Monkey, Fruits, and Flowers

Creator

Jean-Baptiste Oudry (link to bio), Painter

Jean Baptiste Oudry (French, 1686–1755);
Jean-Baptiste Oudry

Worktype

Painting; oil on canvas; french; oil paintings (visual works); paint; painting; european painting

Cultural Context

French; European

Material

Oil on canvas; oil paint (paint); painting; paint; canvas

Dimensions

141.6 × 144.8 cm (55 3/4 × 57 in.); Framed: 172.8 × 175.3 × 12.7 cm (68 × 69 × 5 in.)

Technique

oil painting; painting techniques; painting (image making); painting

Language

Date

Creation: 18th century

1724

Provenance

Major Acquisitions Centennial Fund; Louis Aubert, Lyon (died c. 1886); his sale, Hôtel des Ventes, Lyons, April 12–13, 1886, lot 43, as Singe dérobant des fruits. Paris art market, c. 1970 [according to Opperman 1977 and telephone conversation of Opperman with Martha Wolff, July 12, 2005]. Heim Gallery, London by 1977; sold to the Art Institute, 1977.

Style Period

18th Century; Rococo

Rights

Public Domain

Inscription

Inscribed right: J.B. Oudry 1724 (on the base of the architecture)

Location

Creation: Western Europe, Europe

France

Source

Art Institute of Chicago

Subjects

Descriptive Topic: Orchid, Melon, Peach, Pomegranate , Status symbol, Wealth, Exoticism, Fig

still life; animals; vase; tulips; trees; sky; pink (color); nature; monkeys; leaves; leaf; green (color); grapes; fruit; foliage; flowers; clouds; bowl

Topic

Curationist Contributors

Emily Benoff; Camila Nader

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