Other than lunching in the style of Le déjeuner sur l’herbe (1863) by Édouard Manet (1832-1883), how else might the midday meal be taken? A greenhouse-like room would be an interesting place to have lunch, especially at a time when greenhouses were rare in France, such as when Louise Abbéma (1858-1927) painted Le déjeuner dans la serre (1877). The first modern greenhouse in Europe was built by Charles Lucien Jules Laurent Bonaparte (1803-1857), biologist, botanist, and ornithologist. Or one might enjoy just a sliver of outdoor greenery during lunch, as seen in Le déjeuner (19th century-20th century) by Pauline Vallayer-Moutet (19th century-20th century) — click here. Another possibility: lunching on a boat, whether that is done in the manner of Avallant [sic] : le déjeuner dans le bateau (1861) by Charles-François Daubigny (1817-1878) or in dresses as depicted by Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841-1919) in Le déjeuner des canotiers (1881). And if one is having lunch near a lighthouse, then that lighthouse should also appear rather far away, as seen in Le déjeuner près du phare (1928) by Le Corbusier, Charles-Édouard Jeanneret-Gris (1887-1965). As for lunch paraphernalia and food, one could consider just the one type of food in Déjeuner de fruits (20th century) by Léon Arthur Tutundjian (1905-1968), though what if your teacup, saucer, and teaspoon were all furry, as imagined by Meret Oppenheim (1913-1985) with Objet (1936)? Oppenheim’s Objet became known as Le déjeuner en fourrure, as dubbed by the surrealist André Breton (1896-1966). Well, sooner or later lunch comes to an end, and after lunch will be just that: after lunch, as in Après le déjeuner (1881) by Berthe Morisot (1841-1895) — click here.
Note: déjeuner as breakfast in various regions of France being an outdated usage, the word has been employed to mean lunch since the nineteenth century (see Le Trésor de la langue française informatisé).
Charles-François Daubigny (1817–1878). Avallant [sic] : le déjeuner dans le bateau. 1861. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. → https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/337006
Édouard Manet (1832-1883). Le déjeuner sur l’herbe. 1863. Musée d’Orsay. Image via Wikimedia Commons. → https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Edouard_Manet_-_Luncheon_on_the_Grass_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg. See also → https://m.musee-orsay.fr/en/works/commentaire_id/luncheon-on-the-grass-7123.html
Louise Abbéma (1858-1927). Le déjeuner dans la serre. 1877. Musée des Beaux-Arts, Pau. Image via WikiArt. → https://www.wikiart.org/en/louise-abbema/lunch-in-the-greenhouse-1877
Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841-1919). Le déjeuner des canotiers. 1881. The Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C. Image via Wikimedia Commons. → https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pierre-Auguste_Renoir_-_Luncheon_of_the_Boating_Party_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg
Le Corbusier, Charles-Édouard Jeanneret-Gris (1887-1965). Le déjeuner près du phare. 1928. Image via WikiArt. → https://www.wikiart.org/en/le-corbusier/le-d-jeuner-pr-s-du-phare-1928
Meret Oppenheim (1913-1985). Objet (le déjeuner en fourrure). 1936. Museum of Modern Art, New York City. Image via WikiArt. Fair Use. → https://www.wikiart.org/en/meret-oppenheim/object-le-d-jeuner-en-fourrure-1936. See also → https://www.moma.org/learn/moma_learning/meret-oppenheim-object-paris-1936/
Léon Arthur Tutundjian (1905-1968). Déjeuner de fruits. 20th century. Image via WikiArt. → https://www.wikiart.org/en/leon-arthur-tutundjian/d-jeuner-de-fruits
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References & Suggested Reading
Bourdieu, Pierre. Manet: A Symbolic Revolution. John Wiley & Sons, 2018.
– – – . Manet. Une révolution symbolique. Editions Raisons d’Agir / Editions du Seuil, 2013.
Brillhart, Jacob. Voyage Le Corbusier: Drawing on the Road. WW Norton, 2016.
Eipeldauer, Heike, Ingried Brugger, and Gereon Sievernich, eds. Meret Oppenheim: Retrospective. Vienna: Hatje Cantz, 2013.
“#5WomenArtists—Pauline Vallayer-Moutet.” The Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens, 14 March 2019, https://blog.cummermuseum.org/5womenartists-pauline-vallayer-moutet/
Higonnet, Anne. Berthe Morisot’s Images of Women. Cambridge, Mass. : Harvard UP, 1992.
Marrey, Bernard, and Jean-Pierre Monnet. La grande histoire des serres & des jardins d’hiver : France 1780-1900. Graphite, 1984.
Martyris, Nina.“ ‘Luncheon in Fur’: The Surrealist Teacup that Stirred the Art World.” National Public Radio / The Salt. 9 February 2016, https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2016/02/09/466061492/luncheon-in-fur-the-surrealist-tea-cup-that-stirred-the-art-world
Morisot, Berthe. Après le déjeuner. 1881. Christie’s, https://www.christies.com/lotfinder/Lot/berthe-morisot-1841-1895-apres-le-dejeuner-5650329-details.aspx
Murachanian, Jean Louise. Léon Tutundjian: Trauma, Identity and Modern Art in the Aftermath of Genocide. University of California, Los Angeles, 2009.
Oppenheim, Meret. “Androgyny: Interview with Meret Oppenheim.” Interview by Robert J. Belton. Surrealism and Women, edited by Mary Ann Caws, Rudolf E. Kuenzli, Gwen Raaberg, 1991, pp. 63-75.
Pollock, Griselda. “Louise Abbéma’s Lunch and Alfred Stevens’s Studio: Theatricality, Feminine Subjectivity and Space around Sarah Bernhardt, Paris, 1877–1888.” Local/Global: Women Artists in the Nineteenth Century, 2017, pp. 99-119.
Rathbone, Eliza E., and Mary Morton, Sylvie Patry, Aileen Ribeiro, Elizabeth Steele, Sara Tas. Renoir and Friends: Luncheon of the Boating Party. Washington DC: The Phillips Collection / GILES / D. Giles Limited, 2017.
Rey, Jean Dominique. Berthe Morisot. Naefels, Switzerland: Bonfini, 1982.
Vallayer-Moutet, Pauline. Le déjeuner. 19th century-20th century. Artnet. http://www.artnet.com/artists/pauline-vallayer-moutet/le-d%C3%A9jeuner-fAav12bVgZU0ify9enXY2g2
Wickenden, Robert J. Charles-Francois Daubigny, Painter and Etcher. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 1914.
