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Two Friends

Nicolas Lancret

French, 1690–1743

Two Friends

1738

This idyllic scene, set in a grove and peopled by elegantly dressed figures, contains a revealing commentary about morality. The story comes from a fable by Jean de La Fontaine about two men who both initially claimed to be the father of a girl, but later denied their claims when she grew into a beautiful young woman they wished to court. Lancret achieved a delicate, detailed finish by painting on copper.

Medium Oil on copper
Dimensions 11 5/16 x 14 3/8 in. (28.7 x 36.5 cm)
Object Number 1955.956
Acquisition Acquired by Sterling and Francine Clark before 1955
Status Off View

Image Caption

Nicolas Lancret, Two Friends, 1738, Oil on copper. Clark Art Institute, 1955.956

Select Bibliography

Paris: The Salon.. . 1739.. London: Guildhall.. Loan Collection of Pictures of the French School.. 1898.. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art.. French Painting and Sculpture of the XVIII Century.. Nov. 6, 1935-Jan. 5, 1936.. J. P. Morgan. Exhibition of Paintings, Collection of J. P. Morgan, for the Benefit of the Citizens Committee for the Army and Navy, Inc, November 23-December 11, 1943. New York: The William Bradford Press, 1943. Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. Exhibit Seven: The Regency and Louis XVI Rooms. Exhibition catalogue. Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1957. Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. Exhibit Four & Exhibit Seven. Exhibition catalogue. Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1958. Lovett, Jennifer Gordon. A Glimpse of Rococo France: The Amorous Proposal by François Le Moyne. Exhibition brochure. Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1987. Ballot de Sovot.. Eloge de Lancret Peinture de Roi.. Paris: J. J. Guiffrey.. [1874?].. Emilia F. S. Dilke.. "L'Art Français du Guildhall de Londres.". Gazette des Beaux Arts SS.. 1898.. Emilia F. S. Dilke.. French Painters of the XVIII Century.. London: George Bell and Sons.. 1899.. J. J. Foster.. French Art from Watteau to Prud-hon. Ed. Royale. 3 vol.. London: Dickenson.. 1907.. T. Ward and W. Roberts.. Pictures in the Collection of J. Pierpont Morgan Princes Gate and Dover House.. London: privately printed.. 1907.. Georges Wildenstein.. Lancret.. Paris: George Savant.. 1924.. Siple, Ella S. "Art in America: Autumn Exhibitions in Boston and New York." The Burlington Magazine for Connoisseurs 67, no. 392 (November 1935): 23031 . "To Whom the J. P. Morgan Pictures Went.". 43.. Art News.. March 1-14, 1944.. 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. Held, Julius S. "Old Masters in the Clark Collection, Part I: Paintings." The Magazine Antiques 62, no. 4 (October 1997): 504–9.

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