Nature morte au Perdreau et Grives - Jean-Baptiste Oudry (1686 - 1755).

Jean-Baptiste Oudry, signed and dated lower left J-B Oudry 1749.
Born in Paris on March 17, 1686 and died in Beauvais on April 30, 1755
"Still life with partridge and thrushes
French school of the 18th century
Oil on canvas. 56 cm x 71 cm
Carved wood frame, gilded with gold

Son of Jacques Oudry, master painter and merchant of paintings on the Notre-Dame bridge, and his wife Nicole Papillon, who belonged to the family of the engraver Jean-Baptiste-Michel Papillon, Jean-Baptiste Oudry first studied at the school of the master of Saint-Luc, of which his father was director. He was then placed with Nicolas de Largillierre, of whom he soon became the commensal and friend.
In 1708, at the age of twenty-two, he was admitted, together with his two brothers, to the Académie de Saint-Luc. For his reception piece, he painted a bust of Saint Jerome, holding a book in one hand and resting the other on a skull. Oudry first devoted himself to portraiture. We quote those of his sons, that of M. d'Argenson, lieutenant of police, finally the Portrait of the tsar Pierre I.
He also made sideboards, two of which were exhibited at the Salons of 1737 and 1743. To earn his living, he composed history paintings, among others a Nativity and a Saint Gilles for the church of Saint-Leu in Paris, and an Adoration of the Magi for the chapter of Saint-Martin-des-Champs.
In 1709, he married Marie-Marguerite Froissé, daughter of a mirror maker, to whom he gave painting lessons. Their son Jacques-Charles Oudry was also a painter, their daughter Marie married the painter Antoine Boizot. Oudry was appointed assistant professor at the master's in 1714 and professor in 1717. He was admitted to the Royal Academy of Painting in 1717 and was awarded the title in 1719 for L'Abondance avec ses attributs.
Recommended to the Intendant of Finances, Louis Fagon (1680-1744), son of Guy-Crescent Fagon, he realized the decoration in arabesques mixed with flowers and birds of the living room of his property of Vauré and of his pleasure house of Fontenay-aux-Roses. Fagon asked him to restore the Beauvais factory, which had fallen into decadence. He was appointed artistic and financial director associated with Nicolas Besnier, who would have been, it seems, only occupied with the accounting. They received in 1734 the letters patent giving them the concession of the privilege of the manufacture during twenty years. Oudry joined Boucher and Natoire to execute the copy of the paintings.
Ordinary painter of the royal venery, Oudry followed the royal hunts and made frequent studies in the forest of Compiègne. He made cartoons for the tapestry series Les Chasses royales, executed from 1733 at the Manufacture des Gobelins, of which he became director in 1736.
He became assistant professor at the Academy in 1739 and professor in 1743.
He died of a stroke on April 30, 1755 and was buried in the church of Saint-Etienne in Beauvais. The following epitaph is found there: "Here lies Me Jean-Baptiste Oudry, ordinary painter of the king, professor in his royal academy of painting and sculpture, boarder of the king, general manager of the royal manufacture of tapestries of Beauvais, churchwarden and benefactor of this parish, deceased on May 1, 1755, aged 69 years. Pray for his soul.

Museums :
- Still life with two birds, a mouse and insects, 1712, oil on canvas, 33 × 24 cm, Musée des Beaux-Arts d'Agen
- Still Life with Three Dead Birds, Currants, Cherries, and Insects, 1712, oil on canvas, 31 × 23 cm, Musée des Beaux-Arts d'Agen
- Still Life with Chickadees, Mice, Walnuts, Insects and a Vase of Jasmine, 1712-1713, Musée des Beaux-Arts d'Agen
- The Dead Wolf, 1721, oil on canvas, 193 × 260 cm, London, Wallace Collection
- The Dead Deer, 1721, oil on canvas, 193 x 260 cm, London, Wallace Collection
- Ducks and Fish, 1726, oil on canvas, 90 x 128 cm, Musée des Beaux-Arts de Dijon
- Retour de chasse, 1730, oil on canvas, 256 × 196 cm, Private Collection, Christie's 1993
- La Rentrée du troupeau, 1740, oil on canvas, 113 × 148 cm, Musée des beaux-arts de Nantes
- The Fox in the Henhouse, 1745, oil on canvas, 118 × 153 cm, London, Wallace Collection
- Falcon Attacking Partridges and a Rabbit, 1747, oil on canvas, 118 × 153 cm, London, Wallace Collection
- Dog Stopping at a Pheasant, 1748, oil on canvas, 118 × 153 cm, London, Wallace Collection
- Spaniel Chasing Ducks, 1748, oil on canvas, 118 × 153 cm, London, Wallace Collection
- Dog with a bowl, 1751, oil on canvas, 88 x 131 cm, Louvre deposit at the Musée de la Vénerie de Senlis (60)
- The White Duck, 1753, ,95,3 x 63,5 cm, London, Cholmondeley Collection, stolen in 1992 and never found since. The painting is considered lost.
- Pheasant, Hare and Red Partridge, counterpart to The White Duck, 1753, 97 × 64 cm, Musée du Louvre, Paris
- Self-portrait, oil on canvas, 46 x 36 cm, bequest of Albert Pomme de Mirimonde to the RMN, assigned to the Musée de Gray, Gray (Haute-Saône), Musée Baron-Martin
The collection of paintings in the Staatliches Museum in Schwerin (Germany) includes about ten paintings by Oudry, including the life-size portrait of "Clara", a female Indian rhinoceros (reproduced above) which toured the courts of Europe in 1749, and was commissioned by its owner, the Duke of Mecklenburg.
- The Angry Leopard, oil on canvas, 118 × 153 cm
- The Dead Crane, 1745, oil on canvas, 16 × 13 cm