Adolphe Monticelli, 'Meeting Place of the Hunt', about 1875-80

A number of grandly costumed figures are seen beside a fountain in an imaginary garden on the edge of a forest. Two men on horseback coming from the left are approaching a group of women standing in the centre, but moved slightly to background. On the right, three other women and a dog are seen in front of the fountain, while they appear to be moving in the direction of the horsemen. All the figures seem to converge toward a meeting point, perhaps where the hunt is gathering.

This painting is very likely a pendant to the artist’s Fountain in a Park, which is identical in size. Scientific investigation carried out by the National Gallery has demonstrated that the two works are painted on matching wooden panels, possibly from repurposed wooden drawers. Both the paintings can be dated on the basis of style to about 1875–80, after Monticelli’s definitive return to his native Marseille.

These imagined scenes, in which elegant figures enjoy themselves in parks and gardens, evoke the eighteenth-century French tradition of fêtes galantes, and were a favourite subject for Monticelli throughout his career. In his later years subject matter became subordinated to his thickly painted style. In these companion pieces very little of the panel is left exposed. The thick layer of white underpaint the artist used is evident in the sky, particularly in the central area, where the underpaint did not dry before the top layer was added. This impasto effect was probably not intentional. Nevertheless, Monticelli’s characteristic brushwork can also be seen in the figures in the foreground. In some of them the colours are so thickly applied that the paint appears to have been applied straight from the tube.

Monticelli’s distinctive painting style was admired in the late nineteenth century by several artists including Cezanne and Van Gogh.