The Fine Arts Museums present the first major exhibition (08.10.2016 - 29.01.2017) in the United States devoted to the Le Nain brothers
>> Antoine
Le Nain * 1599? Laon † 1648 Paris
>> Louis
Le Nain * 1593? Laon † 1648 Paris
>> Mathieu
Le Nain * 1607 Laon † 1677 Paris
Unmarried and childless, the brothers lived and worked together as they produced some of the most enigmatic and arresting paintings of their time.
The exhibition, organized in conjunction with the Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth, Texas, and the Musée du Louvre-Lens, France, brings together more than 40 works from international lenders to highlight the Le Nains’ full range of production, including altarpieces that have never before traveled to the United States, such as Nativity of the Virgin from the Notre-Dame Cathedral, Paris. It also displays the private devotional paintings, portraits, and tender images of peasants for which the brothers are best known, including the Museums’ own Peasants before a House, one of the artists’ most accomplished outdoor genre scenes.
The Le Nains were reportedly trained by an unknown artist in their hometown. Little is known about their artistic activity until 1629, when Antoine Le Nain is documented as a painter in the guild of Saint-Germain-des-Prés. Recognized by their peers as leaders in the contemporary artistic landscape, all three were elected early members of the Académie royale de peinture et de sculpture and counted many distinguished figures among their patrons. (Text: Legion of Honor San Francisco)
The exhibition, organized in conjunction with the Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth, Texas, and the Musée du Louvre-Lens, France, brings together more than 40 works from international lenders to highlight the Le Nains’ full range of production, including altarpieces that have never before traveled to the United States, such as Nativity of the Virgin from the Notre-Dame Cathedral, Paris. It also displays the private devotional paintings, portraits, and tender images of peasants for which the brothers are best known, including the Museums’ own Peasants before a House, one of the artists’ most accomplished outdoor genre scenes.
The Le Nains were reportedly trained by an unknown artist in their hometown. Little is known about their artistic activity until 1629, when Antoine Le Nain is documented as a painter in the guild of Saint-Germain-des-Prés. Recognized by their peers as leaders in the contemporary artistic landscape, all three were elected early members of the Académie royale de peinture et de sculpture and counted many distinguished figures among their patrons. (Text: Legion of Honor San Francisco)