JEAN BAPTISTE OUDRY (FRENCH, 1686 -1755) Raven Black ink and watercolor on paper

JEAN BAPTISTE OUDRY (FRENCH, 1686 -1755) Raven Black ink and watercolor on paper Paper size: 7 3/4 x 12 in. Frame size: 13 x 17 in. 

Though his father was a painter and art dealer, Oudry’s first serious training came from portrait painter Nicolas de Largillière. By about 1720, the young man was concentrating on animals, hunts, and landscapes. He became a member of the Académie de Peinture et de Sculpture in 1719 and a professor there in 1743. From 1726, Oudry had great success designing tapestries. In 1734 he was named director of the Beauvais tapestry manufactory, which he re-established by bringing in artists like François Boucher. Two years later, he became director of the Go- belins manufactory. In addition, Louis XV, king of France, often called Jean-Baptiste Oudry to Versailles to paint the royal hounds--in the king’s presence. 

While unsigned, these works are similar in brushstoke, tone, and quality of an album of Oudry watercolors at Harvard Art Museum which were preparatory works for tapesteries.