Artwork
Singerie: The Picnic
Singerie: The Picnic is an oil painting by the Baroque artist Christophe Huet. It dates from 1739 and is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art.
About this work
Technique & Style
The painting retains its original canvas support, consistent with French decorative arts of the mid-18th century.
Christophe Huet executed Singerie: The Picnic in 1739 using oil paint on a canvas support. The work measures 90.1 cm in height and 149.5 cm in width, adhering to the standard dimensions for decorative panel paintings of the period. As a singerie (monkey scene), the composition employs the Rococo style to depict anthropomorphic figures in a whimsical picnic setting, utilizing the fluidity of oil paint to render both the playful narrative and the textures of the environment. The painting retains its original canvas support, consistent with French decorative arts of the mid-18th century.
History & Provenance
Painted in 1739 by Christophe Huet, Singerie: The Picnic was commissioned by François Jules Duvaucel for a salon in the Château de La Norville, France, and remained there through successive owners until between 1901 and 1906.
By 1907 the work was with Fauché in Paris. In 1922 André Carlhian, acting on behalf of Dr. Alexander Hamilton Rice and his wife, Eleanor Elkins Widener Rice, acquired it for their Fifth Avenue mansion in New York. After the deaths of the Rices, it passed by inheritance in 1956 to their children, George D. Widener, Jr., and Eleanor Widener Dixon, and was given to the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., in 1957.
The painting is held by the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., with accession number 1957.4.1.
It was first commissioned in 1739 by François Jules Duvaucel for a salon in the Château de La Norville, France, where it remained until between 1901 and 1906. It later passed through (Fauché, Paris) and was acquired in 1922 by Dr. Alexander Hamilton Rice and Eleanor Elkins Widener Rice for their New York residence. By inheritance, it remained in the Widener family until its gift to the National Gallery of Art in 1957.
Overview
Christophe Huet’s oil on canvas, dated around 1739, presents a whimsical tableau titled Singerie: The Picnic. The composition gathers a group of primates, attired in contemporary dress, seated around a woodland table laden with food and drink. Their expressions are rendered with a sober gravity, echoing the demeanor of human participants at a social gathering.
Subject & Meaning
The work depicts monkeys assuming the roles of genteel picnickers, a visual pun that reflects the 18th‑century fascination with anthropomorphic satire. By placing the animals in a familiar leisure setting, Huet invites viewers to contemplate the thin line between nature and culture, and to humorously critique the pretensions of aristocratic pastime.
Context
Singerie, the genre of depicting monkeys in human activities, enjoyed considerable popularity in the early‑1700s, especially in French decorative arts. Huet’s contribution reflects this trend, aligning his work with contemporaneous tapestries and porcelain that employed the same playful motif to entertain elite audiences.
Legacy
While not as widely reproduced as later animal satires, Huet’s picnic scene remains a representative example of the singerie tradition. It continues to inform studies of how 18th‑century artists used humor and anthropomorphism to comment on social customs, and it appears in collections that explore the period’s decorative narratives.
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