The Age of Watteau, Chardin, and Fragonard: Masterpieces of French Genre Painting

Biographies of the Artists: Watteau, Chardin, Greuze & Fragonard*

Jean-Antoine Watteau (1684-1721) and the Fête Galante

In August 1717, the Royal Academy formally received Jean-Antoine Watteau as a painter of a new category of art created specially for him, the fête galante - a depiction of elegant couples in secluded parks, engaged in flirtatious conversation and amorous embrace. The success of this theme reflects a society beginning to relax after the austerity of the last years of Louis XIV, one in which Watteau’s patrons and friends enjoyed intimate fêtes galantes in the theatre and outdoors. Parades--amateur theatricals stated by wealthy Parisians in their country retreats--mingled guests in masks and fancy dress with actors costumed as Harlequin, the amorous acrobat, Pierrot, the dreamer, Mezzetin, the clown musician, and other commedia dell'arte stock characters. The nostalgic fantaisies that made Watteau one of the most influential artists of the century became widely known due to the efforts of Jean de Jullienne, a wealthy drapery merchant and avid collector of Watteau's paintings. Jullienne published a compendium of 271 engravings of Watteau's paintings and decorations, the Recueil Jullienne, in 1735. The younger artists Nicolas Lancret and Jean-Baptiste Pater studied with Watteau and continued the tradition of the fête galante.

Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin (1699-1779)
"One uses colours but one paints with feeling."

Chardin came from an artisan background. Working his way up in the social and artistic hierarchy, he trained at the Guild of Saint-Luc's school, and exhibited at the Exposition de la Jeunesse (Youth Fair), the annual open-air show on the Place Dauphine. In September 1728, he was invited to join the Royal Academy and was received on the same day. While his modest domestic scenes are in the tradition of Dutch 17th-century cabinet paintings, Chardin developed a technique uniquely his own, with great depth of tone and subtle play of light. The simplicity and directness of his work conveys a sense that everything is organized and at peace. Children are either alone or with servants; they focus on games or pause from the duty of learning to read and write. It is the governess who prepares the children for their lessons and gives them their meals. Chardin's genre scenes were very popular at the Salon and were acquired by wealthy clients, royal collectors, and aristocrats, including the Queen of Sweden and the Prince of Liechtenstein. The middle-class public could buy affordable engravings of his work, and these were widely and avidly collected.

Jean-Baptiste Greuze (1725-1805)
"Moral paintings"

Greuze was the most successful genre painter of the mid-18th century. He made the fullest use of the Salon, where he was acclaimed by fellow artists, critics, and the public. His paintings elicited strong emotional responses and were praised by the art critic Denis Diderot as "la peinture morale"-- moral paintings. Greuze realized that the family was the sphere that most readily aroused people's emotions; his paintings of domestic life were rich in symbolism that was easy to decipher. Some of his subjects illustrate the genre poissard, a comic category in popular literature and theatre that featured the fishwives and boatmen along the Seine and the stallholders of the Paris market. In 1767, Greuze decided to abandon genre and present a history painting, Septimius Severus Reproaching Caracalla, as his reception piece to the Royal Academy. Perhaps he thought his skills were equal to those of his contemporaries working in this specialty; he may also have realized that the highest posts and honours were reserved for history painters. The Academy accepted him as a member, but only at the rank of genre painter. The ensuing controversy shocked the Parisian art world, and Greuze was so disappointed that he boycotted the Salon until after the Revolution.

Jean-Honoré Fragonard (1732-1806)
Amorous adventures

After apprenticeships with Chardin and Boucher, Fragonard won the coveted Prix de Rome in 1752 to study at the French Academy in Rome. In preparation, he studied history painting at the École Royale des Élèves Protégés (School for Gifted Artists). While he might have taken the traditional path of the history painter and been rewarded with a successful career within the Academy, Fragonard chose to produce art that was free of thematic and formal constraints, and he seldom exhibited at the Salon. His playful or erotic themes were very popular with wealthy collectors. He also depicted domestic scenes that recall 17th-century Dutch and Flemish cabinet paintings in their subject matter and highly refined finish. Although his technical versatility enabled him to work in a variety of styles, he excelled at the rapid, fluid brushwork and luminous colour that evoke movement and light. He executed a number of decorative commissions; the most important being the Progress of Love series of 1771–1773 for Madame du Barry, the mistress of Louis XV. On occasion, Fragonard collaborated with Marguerite Gérard, his student and sister-in-law.

* Developed from material provided by the National Gallery of Canada.

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