A Party Picnicking Near a Village

c. 1760–1770

A Party Picnicking Near a Village, c. 1760–1770. Louis Nicolas van Blarenberghe (French, 1716–1794). Gouache on antique laid paper; sheet: 12.1 x 16.6 cm (4 3/4 x 6 9/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Bequest of Muriel Butkin 2019.63 Louis Nicolas van Blarenberghe was known for drawings such as this one, which were executed on a small scale with exacting detail. His designs attracted the attention of the French monarchy, and he received numerous royal commissions. This work shows well-dressed figures enjoying outdoor leisure in a rural village. Its panoramic landscape and dense crowd were both characteristic of Van Blarenberghe’s miniaturist style. Louis Nicolas van Blarenberghe was from a family of painters; among them he was known as “the great Blarenberghe.”