1923 "The Cook" Painted by Jean Simeon Chardin-Auction Find #464

Okay, today we're bringing you some very rare auction finds, because believe me, you don't find this at the auction. Been there, going there long enough to know that. And these are Instructor's Picture Study Series, selected and arranged by Mary Owens. This is subject number 19, The Cook, painted by Gene Simmons-Chaddon, and studied by John Lemons, by the Owen Publish Company. Now this is actually 1923. This is really cool to find them in the folders like this, and look at that beautiful picture. Okay, now just to show you, on this side here, they tell you all about it, and then you have the portrait. And we've got some more. Okay, so this is picture number 19. As you can see, it's a portrait, just sitting in there. And let me read this to you, while you look at the beautiful portrait. Let's see if I can get the glare off there. Gotta figure out which one it is that's doing that. Yep, that's that one. Gotta arrange the lights all the time. Alright, well, that's the best I can get that. Move it like this, maybe. There you go. The Cook. This is a picture of a very familiar scene. It shows a cook at work in her kitchen. The clothes and the type of chair on which she is sitting tells us that this picture was painted many years ago. Her cap and apron look very much like the clothes worn in colonial times. Notice the meat block and the meat ax on the right hand side of the picture. They were common in the days when most people raised their own poultry. To a person who lived in that earlier period, a delivery wagon unloaded prepared cans and fruits, meats and vegetables would have been a most unusual sight. Household convenience, such as running water, gas, electricity, and many labor-saving devices of today would have seemed like miracles to the people of that period. The woman in this picture makes us think of the home-like, simple people that the artist Millett liked to paint. She seems to be daydreaming. Perhaps she is thinking of some pleasant holiday or possibly she is making plans for her next array of attempting things to eat. This whole picture has a restful, quiet appearance that is free from the queer or efforts found in many modern paintings. The cook is an excellent example of Chardin's ability to paint his character so absorbed in their occupation or thought that they seem like real persons. It also illustrates his remarkable skill in combining colors so as to give a warm, rich effect. Now they have a part here that says questions. So these may be the questions you ask yourself when you look at the picture. What do you first see in this picture? Do you think that she lives many years ago? What makes you think so? Can you see what she is sitting on? Does it look like a modern chair? What else do you see in this picture? Why is a tree stump there? Do you think that the cook makes much use of it? What do you think is in the bowl by the cook's feet? Can you see any other things to eat? If the cook's cap and apron were black, would you like the picture just as well? What is there about this picture that makes it seem real to you? Why do you think that Chardin liked to paint people of the middle class? Do you think that he is a good artist? I would definitely say yes, wouldn't you? Alright, isn't that a beautiful picture? This is the picture of the cook. All on cardboard. And see, that's the small picture of this picture. So see? Okay, and then up here they have helpful materials for the teacher. So this was like a teaching guide to help them cook, I mean paint. Look at that. So beautiful. Alright. And on the back of course they had some more instruction stuff. So what do you think of this? Pretty cool to have, huh? We have more. There was a whole pile of them. So I was really happy to get that. So stay tuned for more. Beautiful paintings. Bye bye.