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Lot Essay
The present painting should be regarded as the pendant to lot 41, as has been noted by previous authors. Vergnet-Ruiz is certainly correct in identifying it as an Allegory of Air, and its pendant as an Allegory of Fire; his presumption that they served as two of a series of Four Elements commissioned by Fagon, while logical, remains unsubstantiated due to the absence of companion Allegories of Earth and Water, or evidence that any ever existed at Voré.
The composition of the present painting exists in a number of broadly variant versions, the earliest of which dates from 1719, and is part of a suite of overdoors representing the Four Elements that remained with Oudry until 1740, when they were acquired for the Royal Palace, Stockholm (in situ). Other versions are in a private collection, Paris (Opperman, 1982-3, no. 33b); the Manufacture de Porcelaine de Sèvres (Opperman, 1982-3, no. 33c); the Toledo Museum of Art, Ohio (dated '1725'; Opperman, 1982-3, no. 33); and the Blaffer Foundation, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas (dated '1722'; Opperman, 1982-3, no. 33b). However, the variations among the versions are great indeed, and the only common elements in fact, are the still life with musette and musical manuscript, which are repeated exactly in each of the six versions mentioned above. In every other way -- from size, to format and setting -- each painting is entirely distinctive from the others.
The astonishing number of autograph variations of the theme indicates that it was one of Oudry's most popular and sought-after compositions. The piece of sheet music below the musette -- so legibly painted that it can actually be played -- is a song by the composer Louis Lemaire, with lyrics by Bruseau, that appeared in a Recueil d'Airs serieux et à boire, published in October 1718, information that can be easily read in Oudry's painting. The song is a petition to 'divine Sleep' to spare drunkards who are first tasting a new wine. The prominent presence of the word 'Airs' on the sheet music alludes to the painting's allegorical purpose, as do the bagpipes themselves: music is a ready symbol of air, as it is carried by the element to listeners' ears, just as the soapbubble blown by the monkey will be borne aloft on the breeze.
The composition of the present painting exists in a number of broadly variant versions, the earliest of which dates from 1719, and is part of a suite of overdoors representing the Four Elements that remained with Oudry until 1740, when they were acquired for the Royal Palace, Stockholm (in situ). Other versions are in a private collection, Paris (Opperman, 1982-3, no. 33b); the Manufacture de Porcelaine de Sèvres (Opperman, 1982-3, no. 33c); the Toledo Museum of Art, Ohio (dated '1725'; Opperman, 1982-3, no. 33); and the Blaffer Foundation, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas (dated '1722'; Opperman, 1982-3, no. 33b). However, the variations among the versions are great indeed, and the only common elements in fact, are the still life with musette and musical manuscript, which are repeated exactly in each of the six versions mentioned above. In every other way -- from size, to format and setting -- each painting is entirely distinctive from the others.
The astonishing number of autograph variations of the theme indicates that it was one of Oudry's most popular and sought-after compositions. The piece of sheet music below the musette -- so legibly painted that it can actually be played -- is a song by the composer Louis Lemaire, with lyrics by Bruseau, that appeared in a Recueil d'Airs serieux et à boire, published in October 1718, information that can be easily read in Oudry's painting. The song is a petition to 'divine Sleep' to spare drunkards who are first tasting a new wine. The prominent presence of the word 'Airs' on the sheet music alludes to the painting's allegorical purpose, as do the bagpipes themselves: music is a ready symbol of air, as it is carried by the element to listeners' ears, just as the soapbubble blown by the monkey will be borne aloft on the breeze.