The Beautiful Veronique
Artist
Jean-Louis Forain
(b. October 23, 1852, Reims, France - d. July 11, 1931, Paris, France)
Datec. 1877
MediumWatercolor, pen and ink on wove rag paper
DimensionsUnframed: 15 7/8 × 10 3/8 in. (40.3 × 26.4 cm)
Framed: 25 × 20 × 2 1/2 in. (63.5 × 50.8 × 6.4 cm)
ClassificationsWORK ON PAPER
Credit LineDixon Gallery and Gardens; Museum purchase with funds provided by Brenda and Lester Crain, Hyde Family Foundations, Irene and Joe Orgill and the Rose Family Foundation
Object number1993.7.20
DescriptionA man with dark hair tries to woo a woman wearing a white gown embellished with flowers. She wears a flower in her hair as well. A man stands at a table behind them with his arm raised as if to make a toast. Written in ink:
Ce fut un beau souper ruisselant de surpirses
Les rotis cuits a point n'arriverent pas froids
Par ce coir d'hiver on avait des cerises
Et du... ainsi que chez les rois
Tous ces amis bruyants ivres fiers de leurs vices
Se renvoyant les mots comme un clair tambourin
Les dames cependant sucaient des ecrevisses
Et se lavaient les doigts avec le vin du Rhin.
Translation:
It was a gay supper full of surprises
The roasts, perfectly cooked, arrived hot and steaming
On this beautiful winter night, cherries were on offer
And Johannisberg wine fit for a royal table
All these joyful, drunken friends, proud of their vices
Exchanged jesting words like a beating tambourine
The ladies, however, nibbled on shrimp
And rinsed their fingers in the German wine.
Status
Not on view