Exhibition – Oudrymania: fables, hunting scenes and animalness

Depicted in hunting, portraiture or combat, animals feature among the most striking images produced by Jean-Baptiste Oudry. A gifted artist with an unrivalled mastery of his technique, he brings us face-to-face with the animal repertoire as it existed in the 18th century, including in a series of three hunting scenes he painted for the Château de Chantilly, scattered to the four winds after the French Revolution but exceptionally brought together for this show.

Animal scenes were extremely popular with the leading collectors in the 18th century, including the princes of Condé, who commissioned them from the artist. A set of exquisite drawings by Oudry loaned from a private collection will feature in this exhibition alongside works from Chantilly’s collections, allowing visitors to see pieces never displayed in public before. These include a large number of illustrations for La Fontaine’s fables, showing how the fabulist and the artist use the animal kingdom to help us laugh at and reflect on human nature. These illustrations were so effective they were copied by the arts and crafts industry and included in their decorative production, examples of which can also be admired in the exhibition. Through paintings, drawings, objets d’art and rare books, this show shines a light into every corner of the OUDRYMANIA that has gripped art lovers for centuries.