Gone Fishing - with the dog

Philip Stretton (British artist, 1865–1919) Left in Charge

Gone Fishing - in 1600s England

Wenceslaus Hollar (European-born English artist, 1607-1677) Angling

Wenceslaus Hollar (European-born English artist, 1607-1677) River Fishing

Wenceslaus Hollar (European-born English artist, 1607-1677) Salmon Fishing

Waterside with Canadian Paul Peel 1860-1892

Paul Peel (Canadian-born artist, 1860-1892) The Young Botanist 1888-90

Paul Peel was a Canadian academic painter. Having won a medal at the 1890 Paris Salon, he became one of the first Canadian artists to receive international recognition in his lifetime.

Paul Peel (Canadian-born artist, 1860-1892) The Beach at Normandy c.1887

Paul Peel (Canadian-born artist, 1860-1892) The Young Gleaner 1888

Waterside with Frenchman Édouard Manet 1832-1883

Édouard Manet (French artist, 1832-1883) The Beach at Boulogne in 1868

Édouard Manet (French artist, 1832-1883) On The Beach 1873

Édouard Manet (French artist, 1832-1883) Boating 1874

Édouard Manet (French artist, 1832-1883) Seascape at Arcachon 1871

Waterside with Frenchman Claude Monet 1840-1926

Claude Monet (French artist, 1840-1926) Camille Monet on the Beach at Trouville 1870

Claude Monet (French artist, 1840-1926) River Scene at Bennecourt 1868

Claude Monet (French artist, 1840-1926) On the Beach at Trouville

Claude Monet (French artist, 1840-1926) Garden at Sainte-Adresse

Claude Monet (French artist, 1840-1926) The Beach at Trouville 1870

Claude Monet (French artist, 1840-1926) The Regatta At Sainte-Adresse 1867

Waterside with Frenchman Pierre Auguste Renoir 1841-1919

Pierre Auguste Renoir (1841-1919) Children on the Seashore Guernsey 1883



Pierre Auguste Renoir (1841-1919) On the Beach, Figures under a Parasol 1898

Pierre Auguste Renoir (1841-1919) By the Seashore 1883

Pierre Auguste Renoir (1841-1919) Children on the Seashore Guernsey 1883

Pierre Auguste Renoir (1841-1919) Figures on the Beach 1890s

Pierre Auguste Renoir (1841-1919) Two Little Girls at the Beach

Pierre Auguste Renoir (1841-1919) The Beach at Purnic

Pierre Auguste Renoir (1841-1919) Young Girls on the Beach 1898

Pierre Auguste Renoir (1841-1919) By the Water

Off to the fair with Camille Pissarro 1830-1903

Camille Pissarro (French artist, 1830-1903) The Fair Goers

Bathing Beauties by Stanley Spencer 1891-1959

Stanley Spencer, (English painter, 1891-1959) Girls Returning from a Bathe 1936

"Everything has a sort of double meaning for me, there's the ordinary everyday meaning of things, and the imaginary meaning about it all, and I wanted to bring these things together...I have always looked forward to seeing what I could fish out of myself, I am a treasure island seeker and the island is myself."  Stanley Spencer

Stanley Spencer, (English painter, 1891-1959) The Bathing Pool, Dogs 1940

Bathing by Camille Pissarro 1830-1903

 Camille Pissarro (French artist, 1830-1903) Bather

 Camille Pissarro (French artist, 1830-1903) Bathers

 Camille Pissarro (French artist, 1830-1903) Bathers by the side of the river

 Camille Pissarro (French artist, 1830-1903) Bathers on the Bank of a River

 Camille Pissarro (French artist, 1830-1903) Bathers

 Camille Pissarro (French artist, 1830-1903) Bathing Goose Maidens

Camille Pissarro (French artist, 1830-1903) Group of Bathers

The earliest Picnics occured after the Hunt in the 18C

Food historians tell us picnics evolved from the elaborate traditions of outdoor feasts enjoyed by the wealthy. Medieval hunting feasts & Renaissance-era country banquets probably were the earliest picnics.

1737 Carle or Charles-André van Loo (1705-1765) After the Hunt

"Picnic. Originally, A fashionable social entertainment in which each person present contributed a share of the provisions." The OED traces the oldest print evidence of the word picnic in the English language to 1748. The word was known in France, Germany, and Sweden prior to becoming an English institution. 
---Oxford English Dictionary [Clarendon Press:Oxford], 2nd edition, Volume XI (p. 779)

1738 Carle or Charles-André van Loo (1705-1765) The Picnic after the Hunt

"The earliest picnics in England were medieval hunting feasts. Hunting conventions were established in the 14C, and the feast before the chase assumed a special importance. Gaston de Foiz, in a work entitled Le Livre de chasse (1387), gives a detailed description of such an event in France. As social habits in 14C England were similar to those in medieval France, it is safe to assume that picnics were more or less the same."  
---Oxford Companion to Food, Alan Davidson [Oxford University Press:Oxford] 1999 (p. 602)

 1737 Nicolas Lancret (1690-1743)  The Hunting Party Meal

"The French might have invented the word "picnic," pique nique being found earlier than "pic nic." It originally referred to a dinner, usually eaten indoors, to which everyone present had contributed some food, and possible also a fee to attend. The ancient Greek "eranos," the French "moungetade" described earlier, or modern "pot luck" suppers are versions of this type of mealtime organization. ...Picnics derive, also, from the decorous yet comparatively informal 16C "banquets"...whichh frequently took place out of doors."
---The Rituals of Dinner: The Origins, Evolutions, Eccentricities and Meaning of Table Manners, Margaret Visser [Penguin:New York] 1991 (p. 150-1)

1740 Nicolas Lancret (1690-1743) Picnic after the hunt

"Picnic. An informal meal in which everyone pays his share or brings his own dish,' according to the Littre dictionary. That was probably the original meaning of the word, which is probably of French origin (the French piquer means to pick at food; nique means something small of no value.) The word was accepted by the Academie francaise in 1740 and thereafter became a universally accepted word in many languages. From the informal picnic, the outdoor feast developed...Weekend shooting parties and sporting events were occasions for grand picnics, with extensive menus and elaborate presentation."
---Larousse Gastronomique, completely updated and revised edition [Clarkson Potter:New York] 2001 (p. 883)

1935 Picnic in California

1935 Picnic in California

1910-1925 American Picnic

1910-1925 American Picnic. Photo by John Johnson. Johnson was born in Lincoln in 1879 to Harrison Johnson, an escaped slave and Civil War veteran, & his wife, Margaret. After graduating from high school & briefly attending the University of Nebraska (where he played football), Johnson found work in one of the few realms open to African-Americans at the time: manual labor. He was a janitor & a drayman, but also a very prolific & talented community photographer. From roughly 1910 to 1925, he took as many as 500 photographs using a bulky view camera and flash powder.

1920 Picnic in North Carolina

1920 Picnic in North Carolina

1915 Picnic in Seattle, Washington

1915 Picnic in driftwood at beach below Magnolia Bluff, Seattle, Washington

1894 Maine Picnic

1894 An outing in the Maine woods

1738 Unusual Gardens flanking the courtyard of this hunting-lodge castle

Charles Leopold van Grevenbroeck (c 1731-1799)  Arrival of King Louis XV (1723–1774) at La Muette Castle in 1738. Detai

The castle was built by Charles IX (1550-1574), who was obsessed with hounds & hunting & wrote a book on the sport called La Chasse Royal, which was published in 1625, long after his death. Charles IX would reside at the castle for the full hunting season. 

Charles IX around 1572, painted by François Clouet.