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Jean Étienne Le Bel , French, fl.1767-1774

Title

Fête Champêtre - Music

Date18th century

MediumOil on canvas

Dimensions

36 x 46 cm

Signedlower right: J. Lebel

Credit LineMilltown Gift, 1902

Object numberNGI.722

Exhibition HistoryVon Poussin bis Monet. Die Farben Frankreichs, Bucerius Kunst Forum, Hamburg, 10 October 2015 - 17 January 2016

Label TextThis painting, and its pendant Fête Champêtre – Dance (also in this room), are by an elusive French painter who signed the works ‘J. Lebel’. Little is known about Le Bel, except that in 1767 he became a member of the painters’ Guild of Saint Luke in Paris. In these idealised scenes, elegantly dressed young people are shown playing music, singing and dancing in the countryside. Such romantic scenes, known as fête champêtres, were very popular in French painting in the early eighteenth century.