Showing posts with label Chardin. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Chardin. Show all posts

The 18th century drawing portfolio in art

Nicolas Bernard Lépicié, Boy with a Drawing Book. c. 1772 oil on canvas. Rijksmuseum.

Somehow I made it through college dragging along a large burgundy drawing portfolio that was too heavy to carry. Just last year, still stuffed with various papers, the leather straps on it broke! I know I overstuffed it. Here is a glimpse at some 18th century portfolios (also overstuffed!).  A young artist with his own portfolio and Madame du Pompadour's, which had lovely blue straps!


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Marie Antoinette Inspired Sunglasses and 18th Century Eyewear: Fit for a Queen


Modern take on Marie Antoinette's style, a Wildfox model wears 18th century inspired sunglasses with hair piled high in a pouf and lays on a blue velvet couch

I recently saw a post on My Elle blog about an eye-wear ad campaign inspired by Marie Antoinette. While I am pleased that Marie Antoinette continues to influence the fashion world this year, and a new twist - eye wear, in this case I would say the interpretation is all about the styling!

This time my beloved Wildfox Couture has released their new AW2014 line of eye-wear, The Fit for A Queen collection shows (some) inspiration from the 18th century.
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The Diligent Mother

Jean-Siméon Chardin,  The Diligent Mother. 1740, painting.  Musée du Louvre.
The dilligent mother at work.  What is your favorite part of this painting? I bet most people will say the dog (an 18th century dog of course!) but check out her equipment!


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The Talented Artist: Monkey as a Painter

Jean-Siméon Chardin, Monkey as Painter. 1740. Musée du Louvre

Hurrah! Tis Friday! Before you all take off for your fabulous weekends, I thought I would share some artwork with you.  This piece is by Chardin, who clearly had a great sense of humor.  Here our monkey is displaying his talents by painting a finely set up still life. 

The still life includes marble sculpture, glass and fabric, all textures are meant to show the range of his skill.  Our little painter also portrays his care for the accurate as he rests his wrists to steady his hand, clearly a skilled life painter.

Below the still life you will see his large portfolio of works. This addition suggests that he has been painting for sometime and his talent apparent.  Similar motifs can be seen in later works such as the following portrait of Madame du Pompadour who also had a passion for art. Notice both artists used blue satin ribbons to tie their portfolios, I think I would do the same!

 Maurice-Quentin de La Tour, Madame de Pompadour. 1752, pastel. Musée du Louvre.
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Intimate Encounters: Love and Domesticity in 18th Century France

 Francois Boucher, La Toilette (A Lady Fastening Her Garter). 1742, oil on canvas.  Fundacion Coleccion Thyssen-Bornemisza.

I am so excited to tell you about this exhibition catalog, because the minute I opened it I saw a painting by Nicolas Lancret I had never seen before! It did not take long before I found several unknown treasures; the beautifully illustrated catalog was put together to accompany the exhibition Intimate Encounters: Love and Domesticity in 18th Century France.

Although the show is over, you can visit it through more than 75 works of art by 39 artists.  The book contains five short essays that walk you through the history of genre painting, the artists, women of fashion and scholars that influenced it and opposed it, while making connections between various forms of art.

Intimate Encounters encourages us to consider the role of genre painting in France. In the 18th century it existed in stark contrast to the more traditional historical style that dominated the Royal Academy.  The soft colors and intimate subjects of genre paintings challenged the tastes of the period and they challenged the artists that tried to present them.

They remain popular even today. This genre reflects the world of various classes, particularly the bourgeois. They even made witty remarks on society during a time when privacy became increasingly more important to many classes.

The genre painting existed as a window to a private setting, where a viewer probably should not be.  Even in scenes of public frivolity the viewer may gaze unseen, spying all the details and scandalous ones at that which occur before them.  Intimate Encounters is wonderfully presented and offers many fascinating approaches to understanding the demand for, popularity and beauty of intimate encounters in art.

The five sections include:
"Love, Domesticity, and the Evolution of Genre Painting In Eighteenth-Century France" by Richard Rand discusses the style and subject of genre painting as a comparable and even challenging style in a society when the highest valued art was traditional and historic painting.


"Hidden from View: French Women Authors and the Language of Rights, 1727-1792" by Virginia E. Swain is a wonderful piece on French women of letters and novelists, including Madame Riccoboni, Madame de Tencin and Madame de Lambert.


"The "Bourgeois" Family Revisited: Sentimentalism and Social Class in Prerevolutionary French Culture" by Sarah Maza discusses the changes in society at various levels; a new desire for privacy in the home is demonstrated in many genre paintings of the 18th century.


"Intimate Dramas: Genre Painting and New Theater in Eighteenth-Century France""Genre Prints in Eighteenth-Century France: Production, Market, and Audience" by Mark Ledbury introduces some of the connections between 18th century genre painting and the 18th century stage; not always obvious, the two art forms share more than you might expect!


"Genre Prints in Eighteenth-Century France: Production, Market, and Audience," by Anne L. Schroder is the last essay in the book.  It focuses on the genre prints of the 18th century, which were more easy to afford as well as create than paintings, yet appealed to members from all ranks of society.

The second half of the book contains the catalog of works from the exhibition.  Several prints accompany the many full color images of works by artists such as Boucher, Chardin, Watteau, Lancret, Greuze and Fragonard.  The works are accompanied with a description and discussion of the work in context.

Rand, Richard, and Juliette M. Bianco. 1997. Intimate encounters: love and domesticity in eighteenth-century France. [Hanover, N.H.]: Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College. ISBN 9780691016634

Intimate encounters is available from:
amazon.com
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Art du Jour! House of Cards


Chardin, Jean-Siméon, House of Cards. 1779, Oil on canvas. Musée du Louvre.
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Fragonard Friday: Rejection


As a boy, Fragonard took a keen intersest in art above all things.  The love he expressed toward drawing and painting did not go unoticed and his parents brought him to a fellow by the name of Boucher, who took on apprentices. 

He was probably around 14-15 at the time.  Boucher noted right away he really had no formal training, and decided he would let his friend Chardin deal with the kid, if he wanted to.  Chardin took young Fragonard and gave him an apprenticeship doing really fun tasks! Coffee, bagels, and making copies! He copied the works of masters, a tedious, time consuming task (also quite effective) but nonetheless all too boring for Fragonard. 

Chardin eventually gave up on him and let him go! He was clearly bored and Chardin did not see him going far. But after being associated with the two top talents one could ever wish to be, at least in 1748, Fragonard knew he could not just walk away from a possible art career.  It really stung, but what else was he to do? Haberdasher? No way!

This was a tough time for him, and he had to act fast.  Rejection never looks good on the CV and to fix it drastic measures had to be taken. Besides, he really slacked when it came to school, so he needed to find a niche in the art world. 

He put together a portfolio of drawings he had done from great works in Parisian churches, and headed over to see Boucher.  In a tense 'interview' moment he presented his portfolio to the master painter hoping to recieve an apprenticeship from him. To his great relief the artist took him on! (It's like designing for Dior then jumping to Chanel!) The two became friends after working together for a bit, job security....


Jeroboam Sacrificing to the Idol, Fragonard age 20
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