Plan your visit. 225 Madison Avenue at 36th Street, New York, NY 10016.

Plan your visit. 225 Madison Avenue at 36th Street, New York, NY 10016.

Four Men Drinking in a Tavern (Paysans Buvant)

Léon Augustin Lhermitte
1844-1925

Four Men Drinking in a Tavern (Paysans Buvant)

ca. 1878
10 1/8 x 14 7/8 inches (257 x 378 mm)
Charcoal on cream paper.
2003.38

Gift of John M. Thayer.

Notes
Lhermitte was inspired by the work of Jean François Millet and devoted his career to genre scenes in the realist and naturalist mode. Humble subjects, modest interiors, and quotidian activities formed the subjects of his chalk drawings, several of which depict couples and men drinking. This scene of men seated in a tavern smoking and drinking is typical of the artist's drawings from the 1870s. It is an example of the kinds of figures and interest in lighting that elicited Van Gogh's admiration.
In the 1879 Salon, Lhermitte showed one painting and two drawings, one of the latter was titled “Le Cabaret,” although it cannot be confirmed if the reference is to the present sheet.
Inscriptions/Markings
Inscribed in black chalk at upper left, partially cropped, "ermitte".
Bibliography
Le Pelley Fonteny, Monique., and Thuillier, Jacques. Léon Augustin Lhermitte (1844-1925) : Catalogue Raisonné / Monique Le Pelley Fonteny ; Préface De Jacques Thuillier. 1991, Dessins non localisés, no. 684.
Classification
Century Drawings
School
Department