Jean Honoré Fragonard (1732-1806) is one of the most famous artists of the rococo era - the embodiment of elegance and frivolity, where there is no place for excessive vulgarity, but prevails frivolous and playful attitude to life. Swings, perfume, kisses, beautiful ladies in exquisite clothes, gallant cavaliers - this is all the work of Fragonard, who became the personification of his era. It is thanks to his paintings that it seems to us that life then was frivolously elegant, and honor is not an empty word.
Jean Honoré Fragonard. Self-portrait.
Fragonard came from the French town of Grasse, which was then the center of the leather industry. Fragonard's father did what many in the town did - he was a tanner. His husky gloves with pleasure bought wealthy citizens, but some pampered aristocrats odor of leather seemed too rough and unpleasant. So he began soaking the leather in rose oil and scenting it with sandalwood and vanilla. Gradually Fragonard senior changed his activity and became a successful perfumer.
Then the family moved to Paris, and at the age of 13, Jean became an assistant notary. His father did not want his son to be a tanner of leather - heavy this craft, and joined the more subtle occupations. But jurisprudence did not interest young Jean, but he constantly drew visitors to the office, where he worked. The boss, all this bored, and he said to Jean's father: “Maybe I'll help to arrange it in the pupils of Francois Boucher.
A sneaky kiss
Boucher was then the most influential and famous painter, and to learn from him was considered a blessing. But the latter, having seen Jean's artwork, said that he needed to gain experience from the artist Jean Chardin. He was a man decent and modest, was a master of small chamber portraits and genre scenes, but all this is not very consistent with the nature and character of Fragonard. That was a man hot and impulsive, and copy boring genre scenes, such as cooks and laundresses he did not want to. However, there was nowhere to go, and the experience he gained from Chardin, as he was an excellent teacher.
Finally, he began to study and work with Francois Boucher and here Fragonard's talent manifested itself in full measure. All this decorativeness, elegance, piquancy rococo was his native element. He liked something to invent and improvise in painting, to write pictures sensual and praising the joy of life. Boucher's style was very close to Fragonard, and sometimes it was difficult to distinguish the artwork of one artist from another.
Swing
It is Fragonard's artwork is considered the pinnacle of the Rococo style. His paintings were not so decorative, but more expressive and imaginative, and also very cheerful, looking at them almost always improves the mood, become playful and light-hearted, like the paintings Fragonard.
In 20 years he wrote a picture “Jeroboam sacrifices to the idol”, which was highly appreciated by critics and he had the opportunity to go to Rome, to improve his skills. However, he had to take a four-year course at the protégé school, where he again thoroughly studied anatomy, coloristics and drawing.
Jeroboam sacrifices to an idol.
It was not until he was 24 that he was able to come to Rome, there he studied works of art, and ancient ruins. Ironically, it was then that he appreciated the picturesqueness of the labor of laundresses - Italian women washed clothes in fountains and ancient pools. This impressed young Fragonard and he painted the painting “Laundresses”, but in his own style.
Laundresses
And he was also a very easy-going and cheerful guy, a real soul of the company. He easily made friends and useful acquaintances among the powerful. He was lucky to get patronage from the influential and wealthy Abbot Jean-Claude Richard de Saint-Nona and thanks to his support traveled throughout Italy, along with creating his paintings.
When he returned to Paris, he was already a recognized master of the brush. He quickly realized, while still being a student of Boucher, that the best he gets lightly-playful piquant paintings and began to improve in this direction. So appeared gallant “Kiss Stealthily” and “Swing” - the artist's signature artwork. There were also more racy “Lock” and completely outlawed, especially in modern terms “Tightened shirt” and “Girl Playing with a Dog”.
The bolt
However, for a serious official career it was necessary to write more serious paintings, so Fragonard creates a painting “Korez and Calliroi”. But then decided not to waste time and effort to get an academic position to count on public orders. Private customers paid more and to write paintings for them was more profitable, and they liked his trademark frivolous style, not mythological scenes.
Corèze and Calliroya
And in 1769, Fragonard met Macri Gerard. She was also from Grasse, the daughter of a perfumer and had come to Paris to become an artist. Macri took some painting lessons from him and then moved into his home. After a while Fragonard married her.
True, Makri herself somewhat disturbed the family idyll, when invited to his house, his younger, 14-year-old sister Marguerite. That showed great ability to paint and learned from Fragonard, became a famous artist. But and reasons for jealousy gave a lot of reasons, although there is no evidence that there were any relations between them.
Then there was the Revolution and painting Fragonard considered excessively decorative and vulgar, embodying only immoderate and depravity of the aristocracy, for which it was intended.
Bathers
Good at least that his student Jean Louis David, who was on good account of the republicans-revolutionaries, put in a good word for him, and Fragonard was not touched, he even began to work in the Louvre in an administrative position.
But his old age was joyless. The artist thoroughly undermined the death of his young 18-year-old daughter, his son became an artist, but in every way disassociated from the connection with his father. Fashion for rococo ended, the ball ruled neoclassicism.
Fragonard remained out of business, and often went to a Parisian cafe, to order a cake or ice cream. Such was the case on a sunny afternoon in August 1806. Fragonard bought ice cream, and then dozed off. Visitors first did not wake him up, let the old man a little rest, and it turned out that he died suddenly and quietly. This is how the last painter of the Rococo era passed away - in the sunshine, waiting for ice cream.
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