The Suicide
(18th and 19th Centuries )
The palette, pistol, and note lying on the floor suggest the tragic sequence of events that has taken place. An artist overcome by adversity has taken his life. Although no particular victim is indicated, this subject might have been prompted by the suicides in 1835 of Decamps' fellow artists Léopold Robert and Baron Antoine-Jean Gros, whose late paintings had been severely criticized. Decamps pursued a successful career painting a few historical subjects, numerous scenes based on his travels in the Near East in the early 1830s, and views of hunting in the Fontainebleau forest.
Inscription
Provenance
Provenance (from the French provenir, 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody, or location of a historical object.
Henri Didier, 1845 [mode of acquisition unknown]; Charles de la Roche, 1868 [mode of acquisition unknown]; Wm. T. Blodgett Sale, New York, April 27, 1876, no. 88; John Taylor Johnston Sale, December 22, 1876, no. 86; S. P. Avery, 1876, by purchase; William T. Walters, Baltimore, December 20, 1876, by purchase [Robert Somerville as agent]; Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1894, by inheritance; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.
Exhibitions
| 2012-2013 | Bohèmes. Galeries nationales du Grand Palais, Paris; Fundación MAPFRE, Madrid. |
| 2002-2004 | A Magnificent Age: Masterpieces from the Walters Art Museum, Baltimore. The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore; The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City; Mint Museum of Art, Charlotte. |
| 1989-1990 | The Art of the July Monarchy: France 1830-1848. Museum of Art and Archaeology, University of Missouri - Columbia, Columbia. |
| 1977 | Paris-New York, a Continuing Romance. Wildenstein & Company, New York. |
| 1889-1890 | The Works of Antoine-Louis Barye. American Art Gallery (New York), New York. |
Conservation
| Date | Description | Narrative |
|---|---|---|
| Treatment | loss compensation; other | |
| 6/1/1971 | Treatment | cleaned |
| 6/29/1972 | Treatment | other |
| 8/1/1972 | Treatment | cleaned; loss compensation; coated |
| 1/13/1989 | Loan Consideration | examined for loan |
| 9/11/1989 | Treatment | loss compensation; other |
| 10/6/1989 | Treatment | loss compensation; other |
| 4/24/2002 | Loan Consideration | examined for loan |
| 1/1/2005 | Treatment | loss compensation; stabilized |
| 11/30/2010 | Examination | examined for loan |
Geographies
France (Place of Origin)
Measurements
H: 15 3/4 x W: 22 1/16 in. (40 x 56 cm); Framed H: 28 1/8 x W: 34 3/8 x D: 5 in. (71.44 x 87.31 x 12.7 cm)
Credit Line
Acquired by William T. Walters, before 1878
Location in Museum
Not on view
Accession Number
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
37.42