Thomas Couture: Daydreams |
Artist | Thomas Couture (1815–1879) | | Alternative names | Monogrammist TC | Description | French painter, drawer, writer and teacher | Date of birth/death | 21 December 1815 | 29 March 1879 or 30 March 1879 | Location of birth/death | Senlis | Villiers-le-Bel | Work period | between circa 1830 and circa 1879 date QS:P,+1850-00-00T00:00:00Z/7,P1319,+1830-00-00T00:00:00Z/9,P1326,+1879-00-00T00:00:00Z/9,P1480,Q5727902 | Work location | Paris (1830-1860), Villiers-le-Bel (between circa 1860 and circa 1870 date QS:P,+1850-00-00T00:00:00Z/7,P1319,+1860-00-00T00:00:00Z/9,P1326,+1870-00-00T00:00:00Z/9,P1480,Q5727902 ) | Authority file | | artist QS:P170,Q326434 | |
Title | Daydreams |
Object type | painting |
Description | English: Since the 16th century, a figure blowing bubbles has served as an allegory for the vice of vanity. A schoolboy slouches on a chair beside his unopened books as bubbles drift overhead. The note tucked in the broken glass reads: "Le Parasseux indigne de vivre" (the lazy one unworthy of living). The soap bubbles and the crumbling wall suggest the fleeting nature of time, and the laurel wreath symbolizes glory ignored. Rejecting prevailing academic traditions, Couture developed a highly personal technique involving bright colors and expressive paint textures, which was based on his studies of Venetian works in the Louvre Museum. He frequently depicted contemporary subjects but filled them with moral overtones. An influential teacher, Couture trained such artists as Edouard Manet, Puvis de Chavannes, Mary Cassatt, and Eastman Johnson. |
Date | 1859 date QS:P571,+1859-00-00T00:00:00Z/9 |
Medium | oil on canvas medium QS:P186,Q296955;P186,Q12321255,P518,Q861259 |
Dimensions | height: 118 cm (46.4 in); width: 90.3 cm (35.5 in) dimensions QS:P2048,118U174728 dimensions QS:P2049,90.3U174728 ; Framed height: 154.9 cm (60.9 in); width: 142.2 cm (55.9 in); depth: 14.6 cm (5.7 in)dimensions QS:P2048,154.9U174728 dimensions QS:P2049,142.2U174728 dimensions QS:P5524,14.6U174728 |
Collection | institution QS:P195,Q210081 |
Accession number | 37.44 |
Place of creation | Spain |
Object history | |
Exhibition history | Triumph of French Painting: Masterpieces from Ingres to Matisse. Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore; Philbrook Museum of Art, Tulsa; Norton Museum of Art, West Palm Beach; Royal Academy of Arts, London; Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo; Dayton Art Institute, Dayton. 2000-2002. A Magnificent Age: Masterpieces from the Walters Art Museum, Baltimore. The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City; Mint Museum of Art, Charlotte; The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore. 2002-2004. Before Monet: Landscape Painting in France and Impressionist Masters: Highlights from The Walters Collection. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore. 1998. |
Credit line | Acquired by William T. Walters, 1887 |
Inscriptions | [Signature] Lower right: TC; [Date] Lower right: 1859; [Inscription] Lower right: Le Paresseux/indigne/de vivre |
References | Walters Art Museum artwork ID: 12349 |
Source | Walters Art Museum: Home page Info about artwork |
Permission (Reusing this file) | |