Terms and conditions of use
The melon
(c. 1880)
Medium
oil on canvas
Measurements
32.6 × 44.1 cm
Credit Line
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Felton Bequest, 1926
Gallery location
Late 19th & early 20th Century Paintings & Decorative Arts Gallery
Level 2, NGV International
About this work
It may seem surprising that almost one-fifth of Édouard Manet’s completed paintings are still lifes. The seventy-eight still lifes painted by the artist partially reflect a revival of interest, after 1860, in the eighteenth-century master of this genre, Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin (1699–1779). But, more than this, Manet’s exquisite studies speak of his dedication to the joy of painting itself – an act as luscious, sensual and essential to the artist’s daily living as the consumption of the foods depicted.
Artwork Details
Accession Number
2026-3
Department
International Painting
This digital record has been made available on NGV Collection Online through the generous support of Digitisation Champion Dame Carol Colburn-Grigor CBE through Metal Manufactures Limited
Subjects (general)
Still Lifes
Subjects (specific)
cast shadows fruit (plant components) melon (fruit)
Provenance
Remained with the artist until his death, 1883; bequeathed to his wife, Mme Edouard Manet (Suzanne Leenhoff), thence by descent to her son Leon Leenhoff, until 1918; included in a sale at G. Danthon (auction house), Paris, 1918; collection of William Burrell (1861–1958), Glasgow, until 1924; exhibited Loan Exhibition of the Burrell Collection, National Gallery of London, 1924, no. 36; by whom sold to Barbizon House (dealer), proprietor David Croal Thompson, London, 1924; from where purchased, on the advice of Frank Rinder, for the Felton Bequest, 1926.
Exhibited Loan Exhibition of the Burrell Collection, National Gallery of London, Millbank, 1924, no. 36; Edouard Manet 1832–83, Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Art Institute of Chicago, 1966–67, no. 100.
Frame
Recycled, 2010, late-19th century French frame
Frame
The reframing of The melon (c.1860’s or 1880) followed on from the work on The House at Rueil.
The former framing was Louis XV revival, the default framing of many French paintings of the second half of the C19th as they changed hands.
The proposal to reframe this painting and The ship’s deck arose in April 2008. The reframing is based on images of Manets paintings in their frames published in MANET RACONTÉ PAR LUI-MÊME, 1926, the posthumous Manet retrospective of 1884.
Original nineteenth century French frames that would suit both this picture and The Ship’s deck, were on offer from London.
For The melon the proposal was for an original nineteenth century cassetta style frame.
The frame arrived in March 2010 and was fitted to the painting.
The painting was cleaned and restored in 1997.
Frame Details
Framemaker
Unknown - 19th century
Date
late nineteenth century
Materials
wood, composition, gold leaf