The Kimbell Art Museum of Fort Worth, Texas, has acquired the painting Christ and the Woman of Samaria, dated to 1619–20, by the Italian artist Guercino, one of the foremost painters of his time. The purchase was announced by the Museum’s director, Eric M. Lee. The painting dates from Guercino’s early, rarest, and most desirable period, when the artist achieved acclaim for the emotional power of his compositions.
“I am thrilled that the Kimbell has found an outstanding painting, such as this, from Guercino’s coveted early period,” commented Mr. Lee. “It has been a long-standing wish of the Museum to find a Guercino of this quality to enhance its exceptional collection of Baroque art. I look forward to seeing Christ and the Woman of Samaria hanging alongside the Kimbell’s masterpieces by Caravaggio, Georges de La Tour, and Bernini.”
Christ and the Woman of Samaria (38 1/4 x 49 1/8 inches; 97.2 x 124.8 cm) presents a close-up view of the Samaritan woman, who rests her water bucket on the well where she has come to draw water, grappling to understand Christ’s message that he is the living water, the source of eternal life. The painting has never been published or exhibited, and prior to its purchase by a European private collector had been known only through copies and an old photograph of the work that was shown to Guercino expert Sir Denis Mahon many decades ago.
In Memory
This painting was acquired by the Kimbell Art Museum in memory of Edmund (Ted) P. Pillsbury, former director of the Kimbell Art Museum (1980–1998), who died in March of 2010.
Kimbell Art Museum
The Kimbell Art Museum, owned and operated by the Kimbell Art Foundation, is as renowned for its collections as for its architecture. The Kimbell’s collections range in period from antiquity to the 20th century, including European masterpieces from Fra Angelico, Michelangelo, and Caravaggio to Cézanne and Matisse, and important collections of Egyptian, Near Eastern, Greek, and Roman antiquities, as well as Asian, Mesoamerican, and African arts. The Museum possesses a core of works that not only epitomize their eras and styles, but also touch individual high points of aesthetic beauty and historical importance that assure them a place among the masterpieces of world art.
www.kimbellart.org
Image: Guercino (Giovanni Francesco Barbieri), Italian, 1591–1666, Christ and the Woman of Samaria, c. 1619–20, Oil on canvas, 38 1/4 x 49 1/8 in. (97.2 x 124.8 cm) Kimbell Art Museum, acquired in 2010 in memory of Edmund P. Pillsbury, director of the Kimbell Art Museum, 1980–1998
