An ink drawing of two figures walking in profile along a balustrade, holding bowls up before them.
Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College
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Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College

The ink drawing shows two figures walking along a balustrade. The figure leading the way on the right appears to be a satyr, with goat hooves and horns. He carries a large bowl of fruit, such as grapes and bananas. The figure following behind him carries an empty bowl, and has no apparent animal features. A peacock sits in the background, near the top of the image, watching them go past.

Identification and Creation

Object Number
1986.663
People
Aubrey Vincent Beardsley, British (Brighton, England 1872 - 1898 Menton, France)
Title
The Fruit Bearers
Other Titles
Series/Book Title: The Story of Venus and Tannhauser
Classification
Drawings
Work Type
drawing
Date
1895
Culture
British
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/294567

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Black ink and graphite on off-white wove paper
Dimensions
25 x 17.8 cm (9 13/16 x 7 in.)

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
Leonard Smithers. [Christie's, London, January 12, 1900, lot 122] sold; to [Maggs Brothers, London], sold; to Sir Gerald F. Kelly. Fritz Waerndorfer(?); Lily Waerndorfer, by 1911(?). [Paul Graupe, Berlin], 1918. [Gilhofer and Ranschburg, Vienna] sold June 28, 1922; to Scofield Thayer, bequest; to Fogg Art Museum, 1986

State, Edition, Standard Reference Number

Standard Reference Number
Zatlin 1001

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Bequest of Scofield Thayer
Accession Year
1986
Object Number
1986.663
Division
European and American Art
Contact
am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu
Permissions

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Publication History

  • Blake to Beardsley: A Century of English Illustrators, exh. cat., Fogg Art Museum (Cambridge, MA, 1944), no. 6
  • James Dempsey, The Tortured Life of Scofield Thayer, University Press of Florida (Gainesville, FL, 2014), pp. 58, 186
  • Linda Gertner Zatlin, Aubrey Beardsley: A Catalogue Raisonné, Yale University Press (U.S.) (New Haven and London, 2016), vol. 2, no. 1001, pp. 13, 260-262, repr. p. 261
  • Stephen Calloway and Caroline Corbeau-Parsons, ed., Aubrey Beardsley, exh. cat., Tate Publishing (London, 2020), checklist no. 153, repr. p. 143

Exhibition History

  • Blake to Beardsley: A Century of English Illustrators, Fogg Art Museum, Cambridge, 06/01/1944 - 06/30/1944
  • Aubrey Beardsley, Tate Britain, London, 03/04/2020 - 09/20/2020; Musée d'Orsay, 10/12/2020 - 01/10/2021

Verification Level

This record was created from historic documentation and may not have been reviewed by a curator; it may be inaccurate or incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of European and American Art at am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu