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The Experts

1837
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 802
In this satirical work, first exhibited at the Paris Salon of 1839, elegantly dressed "experts" examine a landscape in the style of the seventeenth-century painter Nicolas Poussin. Decamps's generation, including such figures as Théodore Rousseau and Jules Dupré, sought to challenge the prevailing view that the art of the past should dictate contemporary taste.

Scenes in which monkeys are engaged in human activities—singeries in French—are part of a tradition that can be traced to Antiquity.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: The Experts
  • Artist: Alexandre-Gabriel Decamps (French, Paris 1803–1860 Fontainebleau)
  • Date: 1837
  • Medium: Oil on canvas
  • Dimensions: 18 1/4 x 25 1/4 in. (46.4 x 64.1 cm)
  • Classification: Paintings
  • Credit Line: H. O. Havemeyer Collection, Bequest of Mrs. H. O. Havemeyer, 1929
  • Object Number: 29.100.196
  • Curatorial Department: European Paintings

More Artwork

More Artwork
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Death, Alexandre-Gabriel Decamps French, Etching on chine collé
Death
Multiple artists/makers
1845–60
A Fall Down the Stairs, Alexandre-Gabriel Decamps French, Lithograph
A Fall Down the Stairs
Alexandre-Gabriel Decamps
1834–35
Turkish Landscape, Alexandre-Gabriel Decamps French, Lithograph
Turkish Landscape
Alexandre-Gabriel Decamps
L. de Benard
1823–60
Grands Sauteurs!, from "La Caricature", Alexandre-Gabriel Decamps French, Lithograph
Grands Sauteurs!, from "La Caricature"
Alexandre-Gabriel Decamps
1823–60
Landscape, Alexandre-Gabriel Decamps French, Watercolor on wove paper
Landscape
Alexandre-Gabriel Decamps
ca. 1840

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