Lunch in the Countryside

1881

Not on view

Against a striking sky patterned with clouds, a couple lounges in the long grass of a gently sloping hillside. In contre-jour, the woman gazes outward as she pulls a bottle of wine from her picnic basket and a butterfly flits past her proper left shoulder. This scene of plein-air leisure with its exploration of lighting effects and evocation of the fleeting moment embodies many of the qualities associated with the Impressionist aesthetic. Marie Bracquemond exhibited with the Impressionists in 1879, 1880, and 1886, and was one of only three women to do so under her own name.

Artwork Details

Title: Lunch in the Countryside
Artist: Marie Bracquemond (French, Argenton-en-Landunvez 1841–1916 Sèvres)
Date: 1881
Medium: Graphite, charcoal, and red chalk
Dimensions: Sheet: 15 15/16 × 21 1/4 in. (40.5 × 54 cm)
Classification: Drawings
Credit Line: Purchase, Stewart S. MacDermott Fund, 2024
Object Number: 2024.621
Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

More Artwork

By Marie Bracquemond

In the same medium

From the same time and place

Portrait of Mlle Quivoron, Marie Bracquemond French, Etching, drypoint — Portrait of Mlle Quivoron
Marie Bracquemond
1860–1914

Ceramic Horn, Glazed pottery, French — Ceramic Horn
French
late 18th or early 19th century

Landscape with a Distant Town (recto); Study of Trees around a Pond (verso), Henri-Joseph Harpignies French, watercolor over graphite on off-white heavy Bristol-board (recto); charcoal or black chalk (verso) — Landscape with a Distant Town (recto); Study of Trees around a Pond (verso)
Henri-Joseph Harpignies
ca. 1865

Self-portrait (recto); Study for a self-portrait (verso), Marie Bracquemond French, Charcoal, brown wash, and white gouache (recto); graphite (verso) — Self-portrait (recto); Study for a self-portrait (verso)
Marie Bracquemond
ca. 1870

Édouard Manet, Seated, Holding His Hat, Edgar Degas French, Graphite and black chalk — Édouard Manet, Seated, Holding His Hat
Edgar Degas
Sitter Edouard Manet
ca. 1868

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