Profile of Works
Smoker
- 1646
- Oil on canvas
- 70.8 x 61.5 cm
The images of the TFAM’s collection on our website are available for free.
High-resolution image is available from PHOTO AGENCY.
Georges de La Tour was long overshadowed by the works of Spanish and Italian painters and fell into obscurity until the early 20th century. As an academic research on this painter progressed in 1930s, he came to be reappreciated in recent years. All the details of La Tour as the great French painter of the 17th century have been revealed. (In March 2005, La Tour’s Art Exhibition was held at the National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo for the first time in Japan.)
This work Smoker was discovered in southern France in May 1973 and first introduced to the world in the book Georges de La Tour, in which it is numbered 53, jointly published by Pierre Rosenberg and François Macé de l’Epinay in the same year. When inspecting this painting with their own eyes after cleaning its dirty surface, both Rosenberg and Christopher Wright shared the same view that this work was the best of all his paintings. Their view is also agreed by Jacques Thuillier and other researchers. It is one of only some 40 existing authentic works of La Tour: Two of his paintings are in Japan; one of the two is Saint Thomas, which is in the collection of the National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo. However, most of the researchers, except for Wright, indicate the possibility that this painting was a collaboration with his son, Etienne de La Tour.
Nevertheless, seeing the beauty of balances dominating the entire picture, the powerful depiction filled with spatial effect, and the high quality of exquisite finishing surface, one cannot help but feel touched by the world of painting by La Tour. Although this work represents a theme of genre painting which is ‘smoking,’ its rigorous realism and dramatic chiaroscuro of Caravaggio style convey full of profound spirituality like a religious painting. The tranquil view illuminated by a burning piece of wood makes viewers feel the coming of the 17th-century French classical painting.
The images of the TFAM’s collection on our website are available for free.
High-resolution image is available from PHOTO AGENCY.
ARTIST
Georges de La Tour
(1593-1652)
Currently exhibiting
Sep 16, 2023 (Sat)
～Dec 10, 2023 (Sun)
Name of Exhibition :
Permanent Exhibition: From the Renaissance to the 20th Century—500 Years of Western Paintings
Place of Exhibition :
Permanent Exhibition Gallery 2
Exhibit history
- May 26, 2020 (Tue)～Aug 16, 2020 (Sun)
Through the Eyes of René Huyghe: The Splendor of French Paintings — Formation and Transformation of the “Grande Manière” Osaka City Museum of Fine Arts (Osaka, Japan) - Feb 4, 2020 (Tue)～Mar 29, 2020 (Sun)
Through the Eyes of René Huyghe: The Splendor of French Paintings — Formation and Transformation of the “Grande Manière” Kyushu National Museum (Fukuoka, Japan) - Jan 12, 2019 (Sat)～May 4, 2019 (Sat)
500 Years of Western Paintings: Collection of Tokyo Fuji Art Museum Shanghai PowerLong Museum (Shanghai, China) - Oct 23, 2018 (Tue)～Dec 23, 2018 (Sun)
500 Years of Western Paintings: Collection of Tokyo Fuji Art Museum Tsinghua University Art Museum (Beijing, China) - Mar 1, 2016 (Tue)～Jun 12, 2016 (Sun)
Caravaggio and His Time: Friends, Rivals and Enemies The National Museum of Western Art (Tokyo, Japan) - Apr 18, 2015 (Sat)～Jun 14, 2015 (Sun)
Japanese Masters of the Night Yamanashi Prefectural Museum of Art (Yamanashi, Japan) - Jan 24, 2015 (Sat)～Mar 22, 2015 (Sun)
Japanese Masters of the Night Fukuyama Museum of Art (Hiroshima, Japan) - Mar 8, 2005 (Tue)～May 29, 2005 (Sun)
Georges de La Tour The National Museum of Western Art (Tokyo, Japan) - Oct 1, 2000 (Sun)～Dec 3, 2000 (Sun)
Masterpieces of Western Paintings from the Renaissance to the 20th Century National Dr. Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall (Taipei, Taiwan) - Oct 1, 1997 (Wed)～Jan 26, 1998 (Mon)
Georges de La Tour (1593-1652) The Grand Palais (Paris, France) - Feb 2, 1997 (Sun)～May 11, 1997 (Sun)
Georges de La Tour and His World Kimbell Art Museum (Fort Worth, USA) - Oct 6, 1996 (Sun)～Jan 5, 1997 (Sun)
Georges de La Tour and His World National Gallery of Art, Washington (Washington, USA) - Oct 16, 1992 (Fri)～Nov 5, 1992 (Thu)
Masterpieces of European Oil Painting: The Paintings in 20th Century from the Renaissance to Impressionism China Art Gallery (Beijing, China) - Nov 3, 1990 (Sat)～Dec 2, 1990 (Sun)
Masterpieces of European Oil Painting Ho-Am Art Museum (Yongin-gun, Kyunggi-do, South Korea) - Sep 22, 1990 (Sat)～Oct 21, 1990 (Sun)
Masterpieces of European Oil Painting Ho-Am Gallery (Seoul, South Korea)
Origin of collections
- Provenance:
Discovered in the south of France, May 1973
Cailleux, Paris
French Private Collection
Reference
Pierre Rosenberg and François Mace de l’Epinay, Georges De La Tour, Vie et Œuvre, 1973, pp.174-175, no.53, pl.53
Benedict Nicholson and Chistopher Wright, Georges De La Tour, 1974,p.199, no.65F, fig.112
Christopher Wright, The French Painters of the Seventeenth Century, 1985, p201
Catalogue of Masterpieces of European, Oil Paintings, Samusung Foundation of Art & Culture, 1990, pl.no.8
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