Tickets
English
DonateMembershipTickets

Lunch at the Fork (Le Dejeuner à la Fourchette)

1813
Not on view
Lunch at the Fork is an important example of Schadow’s work as a caricaturist and watercolorist. This is one of two small-scale watercolors that Schadow refers to in his diary as the beginning of a series of designs for the publisher Carl Weiss. This and its pair, Napoleon's Retreat, were turned into etchings in 1813. They depict Napoleon’s horrific retreat from Russia, a subject with personal meaning for Schadow, who himself had French troops billeted in his house in Berlin. Schadow’s handling is extremely lively and the colors remarkably fresh creating a lightness and energy that belie the subject matter.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Lunch at the Fork (Le Dejeuner à la Fourchette)
  • Artist: Johann Gottfried Schadow (German, Berlin 1764–1850 Berlin)
  • Date: 1813
  • Medium: Watercolor
  • Dimensions: Sheet: 6 1/16 × 15 9/16 in. (15.4 × 39.5 cm)
  • Classification: Drawings
  • Credit Line: Harry G. Sperling Fund, 2019
  • Object Number: 2019.45
  • Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

More Artwork

More Artwork
Saint Cecilia at the Organ, Flanked by Angels Making Music, Johann Gottfried Schadow German, Pen and black ink, brush and brown wash over red chalk and pencil
Saint Cecilia at the Organ, Flanked by Angels Making Music
Johann Gottfried Schadow
late 18th–mid-19th century
Self-Portrait, turned slightly to the left, Käthe Kollwitz German, Pen and different shades of gray-black ink
Self-Portrait, turned slightly to the left
Käthe Kollwitz
ca. 1893
Costume Study for Vaslav Nijinsky in the Role of Iksender in the Ballet "La Péri" (The Flower of Immortality), first performed in Paris, 1912, Léon Bakst Russian, born present day Belarus, Watercolor and gold and silver paints over graphite
Costume Study for Vaslav Nijinsky in the Role of Iksender in the Ballet "La Péri" (The Flower of Immortality), first performed in Paris, 1912
Léon Bakst
1922
The Public at an Exhibition, Johann Gottfried Schadow German, Lithograph from a zinc plate
The Public at an Exhibition
Johann Gottfried Schadow
1831
Six Crossbow Bolts, Steel, wood (oak), staghorn, pigment, Central European, possibly German
Six Crossbow Bolts
Central European, possibly German
early 16th century; 14.25.1576g, probably 17th or 18th century

Research Resources

The Met provides unparalleled resources for research and welcomes an international community of students and scholars. The Met's Open Access API is where creators and researchers can connect to the The Met collection. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.

To request images under copyright and other restrictions, please use this Image Request form.

Feedback

We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. If you have comments or questions about this object record, please contact us using the form below. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments.

Send feedback

Content Notice

The Metropolitan Museum of Art presents over 5,000 years of art from around the world, and our online collection reflects ongoing work conducted over the course of our more than 150-year history. You may encounter objects or images that may be inappropriate for some viewers or information that may be outdated.