This $30 Million Masterpiece Just Landed at the Kimbell Art Museum

The Kimbell Art Museum Acquires Jean Siméon Chardin’s The Cut Melon

The Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth, Texas, has added a crown jewel to its collection with the acquisition of The Cut Melon, a rare 1760 still-life painting by Jean Siméon Chardin. Long sought after by the museum, this acquisition marks the end of a years-long quest to secure a major still life by the renowned 18th-century French artist. Not only is The Cut Melon one of Chardin’s most celebrated works, but it is also a significant addition to the Kimbell’s collection, now strengthening its representation of French still-life art.

A Long Journey to Fort Worth

Chardin’s The Cut Melon has had an eventful journey. Initially sold at Christie’s France in June 2024 for a record-breaking $30.3 million to Italian real estate investor Nanni Bassani Antivari, the transaction ultimately fell through. Antivari reneged on the purchase, and Christie’s initiated legal proceedings. The Kimbell Art Museum, the underbidder at the auction, seized the opportunity to acquire the painting directly from the Rothschild family, who had preserved the piece in their private collection since the 19th century.

“It is no secret that we have long hoped for a great Chardin still life for the Kimbell,” said Eric Lee, director of the Kimbell Art Museum. “We are ecstatic to have now acquired a Chardin still life of such beauty and quality.”

The Story Behind The Cut Melon

Painted circa 1760, The Cut Melon is a masterclass in visual poetry, composition, and light manipulation. The painting is created on a rare oval canvas measuring nearly two feet in both width and height (57 x 51.5 cm), a format seldom used by Chardin. This unique shape echoes and enhances the painting’s elegant curves and contributes to its harmonious visual rhythm.

Chardin composed the painting as a pendant to his earlier work The Jar of Apricots (1758), which is now housed in the Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto. Both were exhibited at the 1761 Paris Salon. While a similar version exists in the Louvre, it is considered to be a workshop copy, not an original by Chardin.

The Cut Melon in Full Bloom

The Cut Melon features a dynamic yet serene arrangement of everyday objects, elevated to artistic perfection through Chardin’s genius. At its centre is a vivid orange slice of cantaloupe, delicately perched atop the exposed cut of the larger melon below. This bright wedge draws the eye and anchors the painting’s composition with a burst of rich colour rarely seen in Old Master paintings.

A basket of peaches, their skin rendered in subtle gradations of yellow, pink, and red, rests beside the melon. Three small greengage plums are scattered in front, while two corked glass bottles of liqueur and two pears occupy the left side of the canvas. Behind the fruit stands a white ceramic pitcher adorned with painted floral motifs, its curved handle positioned outward, as if inviting the viewer to grasp it.

All these elements rest on a shallow marble table with a bowed, bevelled edge, another testament to Chardin’s attention to surface and form. The painting’s soft, diffused light mimics the golden glow of late afternoon, creating an atmosphere of quiet stillness and inviting introspection.

Each object in The Cut Melon is rendered with palpable tactility, the glistening of glass, the plush surface of peaches, the taut skin of the pears, and the juicy, fibrous texture of the sliced melon—all invite the viewer’s gaze and touch.

The Mastery of Jean Siméon Chardin

Jean Siméon Chardin (1699–1779) was acclaimed during his lifetime for his still-life and genre paintings. Admitted to the prestigious Académie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture in 1728, Chardin earned praise for his ability to depict humble subjects, kitchen scenes, children, servants, with remarkable grace and gravitas. Over the decades, his refined still-life paintings brought a new level of sophistication to a genre previously considered inferior to historical or religious art.

The philosopher Denis Diderot once called Chardin “the great magician,” a fitting tribute to the painter’s uncanny ability to elevate the mundane to the sublime. Chardin’s influence has reverberated through centuries of art history, inspiring artists like Édouard Manet, Paul Cézanne, Lucian Freud, and even writers such as Marcel Proust.

A Perfect Fit for the Kimbell

The Cut Melon now joins another Chardin work in the Kimbell’s collection, Young Student Drawing (c. 1738), a genre painting. With both a genre and a still-life painting by Chardin now housed in the museum, the Kimbell can fully showcase the dual mastery of one of France’s most important painters.

The painting also complements the museum’s growing collection of French still lifes, which includes Still Life with a Bowl of Strawberries, Basket of Cherries, and Branch of Gooseberries (1631) by Louise Moillon and Still Life with Mackerel (1787) by Anne Vallayer-Coster.

Museum director Eric Lee emphasised the natural harmony between The Cut Melon and the Kimbell’s renowned Louis I. Kahn Building: “The quiet stillness of the painting just resonates with the quiet stillness of Louis Kahn’s galleries. The architecture and the painting complement each other so well.”

A Painting for the Ages

For decades, The Cut Melon remained in private hands, passing through the collections of prominent figures such as goldsmith Jacques Roëttiers de La Tour, painter François Marcille, and Baroness Charlotte de Rothschild. Its acquisition by the Kimbell Art Museum marks the first time in centuries that the public can experience its quiet brilliance.

Preserved in pristine condition, The Cut Melon is now on view at the Kimbell Art Museum’s Louis I. Kahn Building in Fort Worth. Admission to the museum’s permanent collection is free, ensuring that generations to come can enjoy Chardin’s breathtaking work.

As Eric Lee aptly put it: “The mark of a great acquisition is when we acquire a work and we can’t imagine the museum without it, and that’s certainly the case with this Chardin.”

Image – Jean Siméon Chardin. The Cut Melon, or Le Melon entamé, (1760). 57 x 51.5 cm. Courtesy – Christie’s