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Kimbell Art Museum Acquires Significant Painting by Anne Vallayer-Coster, One of the Foremost Still-Life Painters of 18th-Century France

Kimbell Art Museum
Fort Worth, Texas
Kimbellart.org

The Kimbell Art Museum announced today the acquisition of Anne Vallayer-Coster’s 1787 painting “Still Life with Mackerel.” This striking work is among the most beautiful and innovative by one of the foremost still-life painters of eighteenth-century France. Vallayer-Coster (1744–1818) was esteemed for the vigor of her compositions, her magical ability to imitate nature, her fluid and varied brushwork, and her remarkable skills as a colorist. The painting is a gift from Sid R. Bass in honor of Kay and Ben Fortson, long-time leaders of the Kimbell Art Foundation’s board of directors. Still Life with Mackerel is on view in the Kimbell’s Louis I. Kahn Building as of March 8, 2019, in celebration of International Women’s Day.

Image: Anne Vallayer-Coster, Still Life with Mackerel, 1787. Oil on canvas, 19 ½ x 24 in. (61 x 49.5 cm). Kimbell Art Museum, Gift of Sid R. Bass in honor of Kay and Ben Fortson