Jean-Honore Fragonard

Inspiration (Self-Portrait), 1769.

Jean-Honoré Fragonard (April 5, 1732 – August 22, 1806) is known as one of France's most unique painters and printmakers of the eighteenth century. Fragonard was one of the favorite creators at the courts of both Louis XV and Louis XVI. His Rococo style was characterized by a fluid technique, exuberance, spontaneity, and hedonism. Painting over 550 works (only 5 of which are dated), not including his various drawings and etchings, Fragonard's canvases were often delicately colored scenes of gardens, nature, and romance.

His works were prolific in the last decades of the ancien régime, and Fragonard's portrayal of intimacy and eroticism were among the popular works of the time period. His imagination, creativity, and brilliance are evident in each work he painted.

Early Life and Education

The Swing, 1767.

Jean-Honoré Fragonard was born on April 5, 1732, in the French region of Provence. His home, for the first part of his life, was located in the small town of Grasse, Alpes-Maritimes. Fragonard's father was a glover, and a poor one at that. It became necessary, after several failed business speculations, for Fragonard to be sent away from home as an apprentice to a Parisian lawyer and notary in 1747. During his brief time as an apprentice, Fragonard displayed such a talent and appetite for drawing and art that the lawyer suggested he be apprenticed under an artist.

At the age of eighteen, Fragonard was taken to the well-known painter, François Boucher. Boucher was able to recognize the potential within Fragonard, but he was not willing to teach him the basic principles. Thus, he sent Fragonard away to gain some experience. He began studying the elements of painting under Jean Baptiste Simeon Chardin, where he learned the basics of mixing colors and forming shapes and dimensions. After six intense months learning under the great luminist, Fragonard again returned to Boucher. Finally, Boucher was prevailed upon to accept him as a pupil, and it was under his tutelage that Fragonard's distinct style and methods began to take shape.

Apart from developing his own style, Fragonard became a master at copying other artists' styles. He was able to imitate Boucher's style so completely and flawlessly that eventually Boucher entrusted him with the execution of replicas of his own paintings. This was most obviously a sign of complete trust and evidence of just how talented Fragonard proved to be.

In 1752, Boucher recommended that Fragonard enter as a competitor in the Prix de Rome. The Prix de Rome was a scholarship for art students at the time. The various artists were required to prove their talents by completing a rigorous elimination process. The grand prize winner would receive a stay at the Mancini Palace in Rome, all expenses paid by the King of France. The contest was organized by the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture, and was generally open to their own students only. Fragonard was not a pupil of the Academy, yet was still allowed to enter (perhaps because of Boucher's endorsement). Winning the prize meant studying under the court painter to Louis XV, Charles-André van Loo, in Paris, as well as attending the Academy in Rome.

Fragonard gained the Prix de Rome with his painting of "Jeroboam Sacrificing to the Golden Calf." After his win, and before proceeding to Rome, Fragonard studied for a period of three years under the direction of Van Loo. One year before leaving for Rome, Fragonard painted the famous "Christ washing the Feet of the Apostles" now housed at Grasse cathedral in Provence. On September 17, 1756, Fragonard moved to Rome to claim his prize for the competition, he moved into the French Academy in Rome, with Charles-Joseph Natoire acting as head of the school.

Education in Rome

Fragonard spent six years altogether in Italy. He began his work at the Academy by copying and imitating many famous paintings by various Roman Baroque artists. At the beginning of his studies, he met a lifelong friend, Hubert Robert, a fellow painter. Fragonard was also educated in the workings of other painters. Among the group he admired most were the masters of the Dutch and Flemish schools, including Rubens, Hals, Rembrandt, and Ruisdael. But perhaps on of his greatest influences was the Venetian master Giovanni Battista Tiepolo. He studied Tiepolo's works in depth while in Venice, noting the vast and florid sumptuousness of his work.

Over the course of his studies, Fragonard learned much at the Academy, but not enough to satisfy his artistic appetite. When his scholarship ended in July 1759, he was able to obtain permission to stay on in residence until November. At that time, he met a wealthy, but amateur artist, the Abbé de Saint-Non. Saint-Non eventually became one of Fragonard's chief patrons. Early in the year of 1760, Saint-Non took Fragonard and Robert on a prolonged tour of Italy.

The two artists set off to sketch the countryside of Italy. Through their travels, Fragonard executed hundreds of sketches, drawings, and paintings of the scenic towns and villages of Italy. He was particularly drawn to romantic gardens, accented with fountains, grottoes, temples and terraces. Fragonard became an expert at fluid looking flowers and flowing foliage. His figures had an air and grace about them that no other artist of the time could rival, they seemed calm, yet in a constant state of motion and love. He loved painting couples on the verge of newfound romance, as well as peasant mothers with their children. It was his traveling that solidified his favored subject matter and original style, however, he would not fully commit to this style for another five years.

Painting Career

In 1761, Fragonard returned to Paris. As he began making his way as an artist, he kept with the religious and historical paintings similar to the one that had won him the Prix de Rome. In 1765, Fragonard made a break from that form of painting and began working in the Rococo style that was all the rage in France at the time. It was with his painting, "Coresus et Callirhoe" that Fragonard caught the eye of the king. Louis XV quickly bought the painting and them ordered that it be reproduced at the Gobelins factory. This event ended Fragonard's hesitation on what subject matter to paint, he forever left behind the religious and classic subjects, turning all his efforts into creating the scenes of romance, gaiety, and frivolity that reflect the courtly attitudes of the time.

A Young Girl Reading, c. 1776.

Fragonard's reputation took flight, and he received commissions from various pleasure-loving and wealthy patrons. His ability to combine risque scenes with such delicate and tender colors and brushwork sparked a rage in France, a time when many wanted a painting by Fragonard in their surroundings. During this time he painted such works as the Serment d'amour (Love Vow), Le Verrou (The Bolt), La Culbute (The Tumble), La Chemise enlevée (The Shirt Withdrawn), and The Swing (Wallace collection).

In 1769, Fragonard married Marie-Anne Gérard, also from the town of Grasse. Shortly after his marriage, he received a very honorable and elite commission from Mme du Barry. In 1770, she hired him to decorate her new Pavillon de Louveciennes. Fragonard completed the commission by painting four large paintings titled the "Progress of Love" (now housed at the Frick Collection, New York City). This first rate commission was followed by another in 1772. A notorious actress, Madeleine Guimard, hired Fragonard to decorate her home. However, as the French taste was changing from Rococo to Neoclassicism, neither set of paintings met with much approbation. After his initial spark of interest faded with the well-to-do, Fragonard abandoned his Rococo style and began experimenting with Neoclassicism.

Fragonard was blessed with a son, Évariste, soon after his marriage. His small child became one of his favorite models to paint. In 1773-74, the artist traveled back to Italy, and returned through Prague and Germany. Upon return to Paris, he fell passionately in love with his wife's 14-year-old sister, Marguerite, who had come to stay with the couple.

With the beginnings of the French Revolution (1789-1799), Fragonard lost his wealthy patrons as many of them were either guillotined or exiled. His dependence on the nobility for his way of life left him destitute and financially ruined. The painter refused to adjust to the new style and decided to leave Paris. The Fragonard family was forced to accept the charity of a friend Maubert, who offered the family a home in Grasse. Fragonard returned the favor by decorating the home with a series of painted panels known as the Roman d'amour de la jeunesse, originally painted for the Château du Barry.

He returned to Paris in 1791, and made friends with the popular Jacques Louis David, the lead painter of the new French classical school. David tried to convince Fragonard to change his style and create paintings that were popular. He even was successful in obtaining a post for him with the Museum Commission. But, unable to please the Commission, Fragonard was deprived of his post in 1797.

He spent his remaining years in total obscurity and poverty. He painted very little during the last years of his life and died on August 22, 1806. He passed away unnoticed by anyone. His work remained very unfashionable until well after 1850.

Reputation

For more than half a century, Jean-Honoré Fragonard was completely ignored by many art historians. However, a reevaluation has solidified Fragonard as one of the two great poetic painters of the 18th century in France, the other being Watteau. The influence his use of color and his expressive brush strokes had on the Impressionistsmovement, in particular his grand niece, Berthe Morisot, and Renoir) cannot be measured.

Over the course of his life, Fragonard produced more than 550 paintings, thousands of drawings, and at least 35 etchings. His style, based mainly on Rubens, was fluid, fluent, active, and voluptuous. It stands out among many of the harsher styles of his contemporaries.

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See also

• History of painting
• Western painting

Confusion

For the monk painter, see Fra Angelico.

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