The Peaceable Kingdom with the Leopard of Serenity and a Surprise Concerning La Surprise

March 26, 2008

Some interesting news this week about two important pieces of iconic, animal-related art...

On May 22, Sotheby's New York will be auctioning off American folk artist Edward Hicks' influential painting, The Peaceable Kingdom with the Leopard of Serenity. While few of us could afford the estimated 6-8 million dollars, I hope that you'll have the time today to take in, at least virtually here, some of its many details. (If you click on the images, you'll see even larger views.)

Hicks was a Quaker who taught his church's doctrines of salvation through light, peace and harmony. He was one of seemingly only a handful of individuals who recognized animals as being connected to such an idealized world vision. The above is one in a series of Peaceable Kingdoms paintings that he created. It dates to 1846-1848.

In other art news, there's a surprise about French painter Jean-Antoine Watteau's La Surprise. I used to have a plate with a reproduction of this painting on it, simply because I always got a chuckle looking at the nosy dog that made its way into the image. Here's this passionate, romantic scene, and then there's the dog just curiously sitting there, taking it all in.

The original painting had been missing for almost 200 years and was presumed destroyed. It was known only by a copy in the Royal Collection at Buckingham Palace. Maybe the Queen, a known dog lover, liked looking at the curious pup too? At any rate, the original has been found and it too is going up for auction, this time by Christie's London on July 8. It's expected to fetch 6-10 million dollars or more, which would establish a world record price for the artist, who lived from 1684-1721.