17th - 19th centuries · Game, trophy, food and social representation

Hares, pheasants and partridges transform the still life of hunting into a study of matter, an image of abundance and a memory of a historical relationship with the animal world.

Still life hunting developed with the great European traditions of the 17th century. In aristocratic courtyards and residences, game, rifle, game bag and horn can celebrate territory, privilege and hunting mastery. Flemish painters like Frans Snyders favor abundance and movement of materials; Juan Sanchez Cotân suspends animals with almost abstract rigor; Oudry organizes game and accessories in decorative compositions intended for royal residences. Chardin then reduces the subject to a silent and tactile presence. In the 19th century, Monet, Renoir, Caillebotte and Géricault took up these motifs again by adding more emphasis on touch, color and the painting itself. The "Fall still lifes" selection notably compares Still life with hanging game - Juan Sanchez Cotân and Still life with fruit and dead hare - Frans Snyders. His reading favors space.

In the still life of hunting, plumage, fur, metal and vegetation make visible all the virtuosity of the painter, but also the social history of the trophy.