Jean-Baptiste Oudry secured his reputation through the 1730 painting Louis XV hunting a deer in the Forest of Saint-Germain, a work that cemented his status as the royal choice for depicting the hunt. Born in Paris in 1686, he navigated the complex hierarchies of the French art world to become a prolific painter, illustrator, and graphic artist.
Professional Formation and Academies
Oudry was the son of Jacques Oudry, a painter and art dealer, and his wife Nicole Papillon. He received his education at the Académie de Saint-Luc, where his father served as director. By 1707, he began a five-year period of study and potential collaboration with Nicolas de Largillière. In 1708, he graduated from the Académie de Saint-Luc. He steadily rose through the academic ranks, serving as an assistant professor by 1714 and a professor by 1717. He later achieved membership in the Académie royale de peinture et de sculpture in 1719, eventually taking a professorship there in 1743.
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Appointed Painter-in-Ordinary of the Royal Hunt, Oudry was granted a workshop in the Tuileries and an apartment in the Louvre. His work for Louis XV included numerous portraits of dead game. Beyond painting, he played a central role in the tapestry industry. In the 1720s, he designed The Pastoral Amusements for the Royal Beauvais Tapestry Manufactory. Working alongside his associate Besnier, he managed the revival of the Beauvais manufactory starting in 1734. By 1736, he also acted as inspector at the Gobelins manufactory, where his own paintings were adapted into cartoons for woven textiles.
International Commissions and Techniques
While maintaining a large studio in France, Oudry produced work for international patrons, including Christian Ludwig II, Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. The Duke acquired several of Oudry’s animal paintings, including his life-size portrait of the Indian rhinoceros known as Clara. Oudry was a versatile practitioner who experimented with various media, including etchings, pastels, and drawings on blue paper. Although he once attempted to use a camera obscura to accelerate the production of landscapes, he abandoned the device after concluding that it failed to render light and perspective correctly.
Fast facts
- Born: 1686, Paris
- Died: 1755, Beauvais
- Citizenship: France
- Notable work: Still Life with Dead Game and Peaches in a Landscape
- Primary occupations: painter, illustrator, graphic artist, etcher
- Major appointment: Painter-in-Ordinary of the Royal Hunt
- Burial location: Church of Saint-Étienne, Beauvais
Questions readers ask
Did Oudry work for foreign monarchs?
He produced significant works for Christian Ludwig II, Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, though he declined offers to work for Peter the Great of Russia and the King of Denmark.
What subjects did Oudry paint besides hunting scenes?
His portfolio included portraits, religious subjects like the Nativity and the Adoration of the Magi, still lifes of fruit and silver, landscapes, flowers, and exotic animals.
Achievements
- Notable work: Still Life with Dead Game and Peaches in a Landscape
