Trophy of the Hunt
1867
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
1867
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
Dominant colour
Trophy of the Hunt is a 1867 by Adolphe Braun, a Impressionism work, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.
This painting shows dead game birds hanging from a wall. Pheasants, partridges, and hares hang neatly arranged. The birds look freshly caught with bright eyes and soft feathers. Braun made huge prints so middle-class families could afford hunt scenes. These prints copied the big painted scenes rich people hung in their homes. They show a fading rural France where hunting was still a favorite pastime. Look at how he lights the birds from the side to show every feather. It’s like a spotlight on fresh meat. Check out Adolphe Braun (French, 1812–1877).
Braun intended his extraordinarily large prints as affordable middle-class alternatives to the painted hunt scenes adorning the country houses of the European upper classes. Here he shows an array of game birds prized for their flavor and the hunting challenge they offer. The 19th-century versions, created by photographers and even some Impressionist painters, evoke a leisurely rural pastime that was becoming rare in an increasingly urban, industrialized France.
Adolphe Braun’s hunt still lifes continue a tradition popular in Northern European painting from the 17th century on.
Read the full account in the museum source.
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