Martin Drölling
French, 1752–1817
The Letter
1816
Scenes of everyday life gained prominence in nineteenth-century France as an alternative to grander historical subjects. This painting shows a family gathered in a humble interior, listening to the reading of a letter, perhaps sent by an absent relative. Drölling included finely observed details, like the cracked windowpane and the straw in the corner, to give the scene a convincing sense of realism.
| Medium | oil on panel |
| Dimensions | 11 3/16 x 14 7/16 in. (28.4 x 36.7 cm) |
| Object Number | 1955.723 |
| Acquisition | Acquired by Sterling and Francine Clark before 1955 |
| Status | Off View |
Image Caption
Martin Drölling, The Letter, 1816, oil on panel. Clark Art Institute, 1955.723
Select Bibliography
Cunningham, Charles C., et al. The Elegant Academics: Chroniclers of 19th-Century Parisian Life. Exhibition catalogue. Williamstown, MA: The Clark, 1974.
Ludig, Sandra G. Between the Lines: Ladies and Letters at the Clark. Exhibition catalogue. Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1982.
Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. List of Paintings in the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1970.
Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. List of Paintings in the Sterling & Francine Clark Art Institute. Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1972.
Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. List of Paintings in the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1984.
Kern, Steven, ed. List of Paintings in the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1992.
Lees, Sarah, ed. Nineteenth-Century European Paintings at the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute; New Haven and London: distributed by Yale University Press, 2012.
EUROPEAN PAINTINGS CATALOGUE ENTRY
Provenance
[Knoedler, Paris, sold to Clark, 1 Dec. 1932, as The Letter]; Robert Sterling Clark (1932–55); Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1955.
