Wednesday, August 10, 2016

French Painting (1700-1740)

Hyacinthe Rigaud
Portrait of Louis XIV
1701
oil on canvas
Louvre

"As so often happens at the end of a reign, that of Louis XIV was gloomy, in art as in politics. The deaths of Charles Le Brun in 1690 and of Pierre Mignard five years later brought the century to its close. What of their legacies? Certainly, each left many students, some greatly talented. Among the boldest of them could be sensed a desire for renewal, an openness to new currents. No longer were their sole points of reference Raphael or Poussin, for now Correggio and Barocci, and of course, Rubens inspired them; no longer was history painting in the grand manner their sole concern, but equally gallant, lighthearted mythologies, genre scenes, and ornamental painting. They preferred everyday life to antiquity, were drawn to a more carefree and, to some degree, more accessible art. At the same time, they felt that painting, at least in France, had reached a dead end, and were unsure how to turn it around. They hoped for a revelation, a revolution, not knowing what form it would take. They awaited the arrival of a savior, which nevertheless came as a surprise to more than one. When the king died in 1715, Watteau was thirty-one. Six years later, he, in turn, left the world."

 from Some Modest Reflections on Jean-Antoine Watteau (1684-1721) by Pierre Rosenberg, reprinted in Watteau, Music, and Theater (Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2009)

Joseph Vivien
Portrait of the sculptor François Girardon
1701
pastel
Louvre

Jean-Baptiste Santerre
Susanna at her bath
1704
oil on canvas
Louvre

Nicolas Vleughels
Return of the Prodigal Son
1709
oil on canvas
private collection

Jean-Antoine Watteau
The Rest
ca. 1709
oil on canvas
Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid

Jean-Antoine Watteau
Pierrot content
ca. 1712
oil on canvas
Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid

Louis Dorigny
Pan and Syrinx
early 18th century
oil on canvas
private collection

Jean-Baptiste Siméon Chardin
Still-life with mortar & pestle
ca. 1728-32
oil on canvas
Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid

Jean-Baptiste Siméon Chardin
Copper drinking fountain
ca. 1734
oil on panel
Louvre

Pierre-Antoine Quillard
The Four Seasons : Winter
ca. 1725-29
oil on canvas
Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid

Nicolas Lancret
The Four Elements : Earth
ca. 1732
oil on canvas
Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid

Nicolas Lancret
The Swing
ca. 1735-40
oil on canvas
Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid

Jacques-Charles Oudry
Hawk attacking wild duck
ca. 1737-47
oil on canvas
Wallace Collection, London

François Boucher
The afternoon meal
1739
oil on canvas
Louvre