Enfilade

Catalogue by Gretchen Hirschauer and Catherine Metzger with Peter Cherry and Natacha Seseña

Luis Meléndez, Self-Portrait, 1746, oil on canvas, 38 x 32 inches (Paris: Louvre)

May 17 — August 23, 2009

Delights of the Spanish table depicted by the eighteenth-century painter Luis Meléndez (1715-1780) are presented to American audiences for the first time in nearly twenty-five years at the National Gallery of Art, Washington, May 17 through August 23, 2009. In a rare opportunity to explore the artist’s working method, the exhibition Luis Meléndez: Master of the Spanish Still Life showcases 31 paintings, some of which have never been shown publicly, and nine examples of eighteenth-century kitchenware similar to those used as studio props by Meléndez.

Organized by the National Gallery of Art, Washington, the exhibition will travel to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, on view September 23, 2009, through January 3, 2010, and to the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, on view February 1 through May 9, 2010. Fourteen of Meléndez’s still-life paintings now in American collections will be shown with 17 relevant works by him from collections abroad, exploring the artist’s creative process and celebrating his compelling artistic achievements. Loans of paintings come from major museums such as the Museo Nacional del Prado, Museé du Louvre, and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

[Press release from the National Gallery]