1886
oil
canvas
From the collection of Art Institute of Chicago
The Sacred Grove, Beloved of the Arts and the Muses is a 1886 oil by Pierre Puvis de Chavannes, a Impressionism work, held at Art Institute of Chicago.
This huge painting shows a calm, dreamy forest with soft light and pale colors. People in long robes stand around a small temple. Some hold tools—like a brush or a hammer. The figures seem to float. They don’t look real, but more like ideas of art itself. Puvis worked on this for five years. He painted it in flat layers, like old Roman murals. The quiet scene feels timeless. It’s not about one story, but a feeling of peace and inspiration. Look for the small owl perched on a rock. It’s easy to miss. Check out Pierre Puvis de Chavannes.
The indeterminately mythological figures that populate this peaceful landscape are intended to evoke a poetic conception of the artistic past. The figures in the center personify the three plastic arts: architecture, painting, and sculpture. They are surrounded by the nine muses of Classical antiquity. The scene’s subdued, chalky colors and overall flatness recall Roman wall paintings. Indeed, Pierre Puvis de Chavannes was the leading muralist in France when he first displayed this painting at the 1884 Salon, a state-sponsored art exhibition; this canvas is itself a smaller version of a mural…
Durand-Ruel, New York and Paris, by 1890 [this and the following according to Durand-Ruel, stock book, Potter Palmer: "Tableaux achetés à Durand-Ruel, New York," no. 965/674; copy in curatorial object file]; sold to Potter Palmer and Bertha Honoré Palmer (died 1918), Chicago, March 1, 1890 [letter from Durand-Ruel to W.M.R. French, Art Institute of Chicago, Feb. 23, 1890; copy in curatorial object file]; by descent to their sons, Honoré and Potter Palmer, Jr.; bequeathed to the Art Institute of Chicago, 1922.
London, National Gallery, After Impressionism: Inventing Modern Art, Mar. 25 - Aug. 13, 2023, cat. 1; Moscow, Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts, Sep. 25, 2023 - Jan. 29, 2024 [London only].
Read the full account in the museum source.
Pierre Puvis de Chavannes (French pronunciation: ; 14 December 1824 – 24 October 1898) was a French painter known for his mural painting, who came to be known as "the painter for France".
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