Men grind grain while citizens of all ages prepare cider, one of the traditional beverages of the northern French province of Picardy. This painting and The River (on view nearby) are studies for the left and right sides of Puvis’s mural Ave Picardia Nutrix (Hail, Picardy, the Nourisher). Made for the newly constructed Musée de Picardie in Amiens in 1864, the paintings celebrate the region’s abundant natural resources and its idealized, distant past. Puvis’s decorations for the museum launched his career as a preeminent painter of murals for state buildings in France.
Inscription: Signed (lower right): P.Puvis de Chavannes
the artist (until 1893; sold on September 6, for Fr 10,000, to Durand-Ruel); [Durand-Ruel, Paris, 1893–1906; stock no. 3121; sold on February 3, 1906 to Hébrard for Wagram]; Louis-Alexandre Berthier, prince de Wagram, Paris (1906–8); [possibly Durand-Ruel, Paris, 1908–at least 1909]; [Galerie Barbazanges, Paris, by 1912–13]; [Turner & Gardiner, London, 1913; sold on March 2, with "The River" (MMA 26.46.2) for $28,000, to Quinn]; John Quinn, New York (1913–d. 1924; his estate, 1924–26; sold to The Met; cat., 1926, p. 13)
Paris. Durand-Ruel. "Puvis de Chavannes," October–November 1894, no catalogue [see Riotor 1914 and Lemoine 2002].
New York. Durand-Ruel. "Paintings, Pastels and Decorations by M. Puvis de Chavannes," December 15–31, 1894, no. 4 (as "Le Cidre [Project of decorative painting]").
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. "Puvis de Chavannes," 1895, no. 3 [see Price 2010].
Geneva. Musée Rath. "L'Exposition d'œuvres de MM. P. Puvis de Chavannes, Auguste Rodin, Eugène Carrière," January 1896, no. 2 (as "Le Cidre [panneau décoratif]").
Paris. Durand-Ruel. "Exposition de tableaux, esquisses & dessins de Puvis de Chavannes," June–July 1899, no. 27 (as "Le Cidre," lent by MM. Durand-Ruel).
Berlin. Bruno and Paul Cassirer. "Austellung von Werken von Edouard Manet, H.-G. E. Degas, P. Puvis de Chavannes, Max Slevogt," October 15–December 1, 1899, no. 31 (as "Der Most," probably this picture) [see Price 2010 and Echte and Feilchenfeldt 2011, vol. 1].
St. Petersburg. Institut Français. "Exposition centennale de l'art français," January 28–?, 1912, no. 503 (as "Grande esquisse pour le musée d'Amiens," lent by Barbazanges).
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. "The Masterpieces of French Painting from The Metropolitan Museum of Art: 1800–1920," February 4–May 6, 2007, no. 41.
Berlin. Neue Nationalgalerie. "Französische Meisterwerke des 19. Jahrhunderts aus dem Metropolitan Museum of Art," June 1–October 7, 2007, unnumbered cat.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Rodin at The Met," September 16, 2017–February 4, 2018, no catalogue.
Charles Yriarte. "Beaux-Arts: Six oeuvres de M. Puvis de Chavannes (Galerie Durand-Ruel)." Le Figaro (November 10, 1894), p. 1.
"Exposition de M. Puvis de Chavannes." Chronique des arts et de la curiosité, supplément à la Gazette des beaux-arts (October 20, 1894), p. 252, as "Le Cidre".
Paintings, Pastels and Decorations by M. Puvis de Chavannes. Exh. cat., Durand-Ruel Galleries. New York, 1894, p. 17, no. 4, dates it 1893.
"Der Kunstsalon Bruno und Paul Cassirer." Staatsbürger-Zeitung no. 516 (November 3, 1899) [see Echte and Feilchenfeldt 2011, vol. 1], as "Der Most"; calls it an example of Puvis's "correct" drawing and "academic" composition.
Roger Fry. Letter to Bryson Burroughs. March 31, 1909 [published in Denys Sutton, ed., "Letters of Roger Fry," vol. 1, New York, 1972, letter no. 263, p. 319], reports that this picture and "The River" are available for purchase through Durand-Ruel.
François Monod. "L'Exposition centennale de l'art français à Saint-Pétersbourg (2e et dernier article)." Gazette des beaux-arts, 4th ser., 7 (April 1912), p. 323, calls it "Automne".
René Jean. L'Art français a Saint-Pétersbourg: Exposition centennale. Exh. cat.Paris, 1912, pp. 59–60, finds the landscape in this picture and its pendant reminiscent of Corot.
"Exhibition: One Hundred Years of French Painting 1812–1912." Apollon 3, part 1, no. 5 (1912), ill. between pp. 40 and 41.
James Huneker. Letter to John Quinn. March 13, 1913 [published in Josephine Huneker, ed., "Letters of James Gibbons Huneker," New York, 1922, p. 154], congratulates Quinn on the purchase of "the various Puvises".
Léon Riotor. Puvis de Chavannes. Paris, [1914], pp. 26, 66, mentions that two decorative sketches called "le Cidre" and "la Pêche" were exhibited at Durand-Ruel in October–November 1894.
B[ryson]. B[urroughs]. "A Recent Loan of Paintings." Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 10 (April 1915), p. 76, states that John Quinn has lent this picture to the MMA; describes it and "The River" as studies for an 1865 decoration at the head of the stairway on the second floor in the Picardy Museum, Amiens, noting that the Amiens installation is one continuous landscape, intersected by a central doorway.
James Huneker. Ivory Apes and Peacocks. New York, 1915, p. 306, calls it "The Vintage" and dates it 1866.
James Huneker. Letter to John Quinn. March 26, 1916 [published in Josephine Huneker, ed., "Letters of James Gibbons Huneker," New York, 1922, p. 206].
John Quinn, 1870–1925: Collection of Paintings, Water Colors, Drawings & Sculpture. Huntington, N.Y., 1926, p. 13, as "Le Vendage".
Léon Werth. Puvis de Chavannes. Paris, 1926, p. 125, pl. 10, dates it 1879.
Camille Mauclair. Puvis de Chavannes. Paris, 1928, p. 162, erroneously calls it a sketch for the right side of the Amiens decoration.
Josephine L. Allen and Elizabeth E. Gardner. A Concise Catalogue of the European Paintings in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1954, p. 79.
Charles Sterling and Margaretta M. Salinger. French Paintings: A Catalogue of the Collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Vol. 2, XIX Century. New York, 1966, pp. 225–27, ill., remark that this composition was originally incomplete at the lower left corner, corresponding to where the architectural elements in Amiens intruded on the actual decoration; note that this picture was finished and signed at a later date when it was no longer needed as a study and could be sold.
B[enjamin]. L[awrence]. Reid. The Man from New York: John Quinn and His Friends. New York, 1968, pp. 160–61, 197, 200, notes that Quinn paid $28,000 for this work and "The River," making this his costliest purchase to date; erroneously states that it was shown in the 1900 Paris Exposition.
Richard J. Wattenmaker. Puvis de Chavannes and the Modern Tradition. Exh. cat., Art Gallery of Ontario. Toronto, 1975, pp. xxiv, 27–29, 58, 65.
Jacques Foucart-Borville. La Genèse des peintures murales de Puvis de Chavannes au Musée de Picardie. Amiens, 1976, pp. 58–61, fig. 13, dates it just before November 1864, suggesting that it was retouched in 1893.
Louise d'Argencourt inPuvis de Chavannes, 1824–1898. Exh. cat., Grand Palais, Paris. Ottawa, 1977, p. 64 [French ed., Paris, 1976, p. 67].
Judith Zilczer. "The Noble Buyer:" John Quinn, Patron of the Avant-Garde. Exh. cat., Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution. Washington, 1978, p. 179, as "The Grape Harvest (Le Vendange)".
Brice Rhyne. "John Quinn: The New York 'Stein'." Artforum 17 (October 1978), p. 59, notes that Quinn specified this picture and its companion be offered for sale to the MMA after his death.
Claudine Mitchell. "Time and the Idea of Patriarchy in the Pastorals of Puvis de Chavannes." Art History 10 (June 1987), pp. 192–93, pl. 60, calls it a study for the left side of the decoration; discusses alterations Puvis made from an earlier drawing of the composition (Musée de Picardie) to our painting with its figures of an old man and woman looking at a young child; proposes that "as he worked on the canvas Puvis devised techniques to clarify the visual exchange between grandparents and grandson" to signify the cycle of life among the generations.
Aimée Brown Price. Pierre Puvis de Chavannes. Exh. cat., Van Gogh Museum. Amsterdam, 1994, p. 104 n. 2, under no. 38, refers to the "Cider" composition as the left side of the decoration.
Gary Tinterow. "Letters: The New Rooms at the Metropolitan Museum, New York." Burlington Magazine 136 (April 1994), p. 241.
Katharine Baetjer. European Paintings in The Metropolitan Museum of Art by Artists Born Before 1865: A Summary Catalogue. New York, 1995, p. 434, ill.
Serge Lemoine, ed. From Puvis de Chavannes to Matisse and Picasso: Toward Modern Art. Exh. cat., Palazzo Grassi, Venice. [Milan], 2002, p. 547, fig. 5 (color) and ill. p. 545.
Kathryn Calley Galitz inThe Masterpieces of French Painting from The Metropolitan Museum of Art: 1800–1920. Exh. cat., Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. New York, 2007, pp. 64, 248, no. 41, ill. (color and black and white).
Kathryn Calley Galitz inMasterpieces of European Painting, 1800–1920, in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 2007, pp. 74–75, 293, no. 68, ill. (color and black and white).
Aimée Brown Price. Pierre Puvis de Chavannes. Vol. 1, The Artist and His Art. New Haven, 2010, pp. 52, 222 n. 198.
Aimée Brown Price. Pierre Puvis de Chavannes. Vol. 2, A Catalogue Raisonné of the Painted Work. New Haven, 2010, pp. 99–100, 105, no. 129, ill., calls it "Le Cidre" or "Les Vendanges" or "Cueillette des pommes / Cider"; dates it about 1864, noting that the mural dates from 1864–65; observes that the colors in this picture are "lighter, narrower, and more subtle than those of the mural".
Kunstsalon Cassirer. Ed. Bernhard Echte and Walter Feilchenfeldt. Wädenswil, Zürich, 2011–16, vol. 1, pp. 179, 196–97, 202–3, 213, ill. (color), as "Der Most"; identify it as in Berlin 1899; republish Staatsbürger-Zeitung 1899.
Caroline Elam. Roger Fry and Italian Art. London, 2019, pp. 47, 66 n. 93.
Pierre Puvis de Chavannes (French, Lyons 1824–1898 Paris)
1840–98
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