Wednesday, August 10, 2016

French Painting (1740-1760)

François Boucher
La Toilette
1742
canvas
Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid

"François Boucher (1703-1770) spent three years in Italy, where he familiarized himself with the works of Sebastiano Ricci and Giovanni Pellegrini, which perhaps confirmed his taste for fanciful, loosely painted scenes with fluid colors ... He was a Parisian, like his contemporary Chardin, but one steeped in gaiety, licentiousness, and fashion." 

André Chastel in French Art (Flammarion, 1996) goes on to assert that "as of 1750-1760" Boucher and his followers provoked "a lively international reaction in England (ironic and defiant) and Germany (scandalized by the frivolous, insufficiently intellectual aspect of average French output). But French activity, nevertheless, drew foreigners. There was the Salon with its informative pamphlets, sales with their catalogues, and a whole series of events that spurred the curiosity, speculation, and pleasure of connoisseurs and others. Paris became an indispensable  or rather tangible – part of European artistic life."
Jean-Marc Nattier
Portrait of Francis Greville
1741
oil on canvas
private collection

Jean-Marc Nattier
Portrait of Henriette de France as Flora
1742
oil on canvas
Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence

Jean-Marc Nattier
Portrait of Marie-Adelaide de France as Diana
1745
oil on canvas
Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence

Jean-Marc Nattier
Portrait of Madame Bouret as Diana
1745
oil on canvas
Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid

François Boucher
Abduction of Europa
1747
oil on canvas
Louvre

François Boucher
The Rising of the Sun
1753
oil on canvas
Wallace Collection, London

Jean-Honoré Fragonard
The Musical Contest
1754
oil on canvas
Wallace Collection, London

François-Hubert Drouais
Children of the Duc de Bouillon
1756
oil on canvas
private collection

Jean-Baptiste Greuze
Portrait of Joseph (a model at the Art Academy)
1755
oil on canvas
Louvre

Jean-Baptiste Greuze
Portrait of Ange-Laurent de La Live de Jully
ca. 1759
oil on canvas
National Gallery of Art, Washington DC

François Boucher
Vulcan presenting Venus with arms for Aeneas
1757
oil on canvas
Louvre

Maurice Quentin de La Tour
Portrait of Madame de Pompadour
ca. 1755
pastel
Louvre

Jean-Marc Nattier
Portrait of Marie-Adelaide de Bourbon
1758
oil on canvas
Louvre

François Boucher
Portrait of Madame de Pompadour
1759
oil on canvas
Wallace Collection, London