Probably by Jean-Baptiste Perronneau, 'A Girl with a Kitten', 1743
About the work
Overview
This little girl, who has not been identified, has been posed by the artist, and the kitten by the girl. A cat is sometimes included in portraits of children as a symbol of the wildness of nature intruding upon the innocence of childhood.
The picture is probably a portrait, albeit an idealised one, rather than a genre scene. Although it bears the artist’s signature and the date 1745, some question whether A Girl with a Kitten is indeed by Perronneau. The pigments in the pastels, the canvas and the paper are all consistent with a work produced in the eighteenth century, yet the draughtsmanship and sense of anatomy seem unusually poor for Perronneau at this stage of his career. However, some skilled parts are consistent with his technique and the signature is of the same date as the rest of the image.
Despite these uncertainties, this remains one of the most popular pastels in our collection.
Key facts
Details
- Full title
- A Girl with a Kitten
- Artist
- Probably by Jean-Baptiste Perronneau
- Artist dates
- 1715/16 - 1783
- Date made
- 1743
- Medium and support
- pastel on blue paper, mounted on canvas
- Dimensions
- 59.1 × 49.8 cm
- Inscription summary
- Signed; Dated
- Acquisition credit
- Presented by Sir Joseph Duveen, 1921
- Inventory number
- NG3588
- Location
- Not on display
- Collection
- Main Collection
- Frame
- 19th-century French Frame
Provenance
Additional information
Text extracted from the ‘Provenance’ section of the catalogue entry in Humphrey Wine, ‘National Gallery Catalogues: The Eighteenth Century French Paintings’, London 2018; for further information, see the full catalogue entry.
Bibliography
-
1946Martin Davies, National Gallery Catalogues: French School, London 1946
-
1957Martin Davies, National Gallery Catalogues: French School, 2nd edn (revised), London 1957
-
2001
C. Baker and T. Henry, The National Gallery: Complete Illustrated Catalogue, London 2001
-
2018Wine, Humphrey, National Gallery Catalogues: The Eighteenth Century French Paintings, London 2018
About this record
If you know more about this painting or have spotted an error, please contact us. Please note that exhibition histories are listed from 2009 onwards. Bibliographies may not be complete; more comprehensive information is available in the National Gallery Library.