Chardin,Jean-Baptiste-Siméon
Chardin, Jean-Baptiste-Siméon (1699-1779). French painter, one of the greatestof the 18th century, whose genre and still life subjects documented the life ofthe Paris bourgeoisie. He favored simple still lifes and unsentimental domesticinteriors. His muted tones and ability to evoke textures are seen in Benedictionand Return from Market (Louvre) and Blowing Bubblesand Mme Chardin (Metropolitan Museum). His unusual abstractcompositions had great influence.
Chardinwas born in Paris, November 2, 1699, the son of a cabinetmaker. Largelyself-taught, he was strongly influenced by 17th-century Low Country masterssuch as Metsu and de Hooch. Like them, he devoted himself to simple subjectsand common themes. His lifelong work in this style contrasted sharply with theheroic historical subjects and lighthearted rococo scenes that constituted themainstream of art during the mid-18th century.
Chardinwas admitted to the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture in 1728 on thebasis of two early still lifes, The Skate and The Buffet(both 1728, Louvre, Paris). In the 1730s, he began to paint scenes of everydaylife in bourgeois Paris, among them Lady Sealing a Letter (1733,former State Museums, Berlin), Scouring Maid (1738, HunterianMuseum, Glasgow, Scotland), and The Benediction (1740, Louvre).Characterized by subdued colors and mellow lighting, these works celebrate thebeauty of their commonplace subjects and project an aura of humanity, intimacy,and honest domesticity. Chardin's technical skill gave his paintings anuncannily realistic texture. He rendered forms by means of light by usingthick, layered brushstrokes and thin, luminous glazes. Called the grandmagician by critics, he achieved a mastery in these areas unequaled by anyother 18th-century painter. Chardin's early support came from aristocraticpatrons, including King Louis XV. He later gained a wider popularity whenengraved copies of his works were produced. He turned to pastels in later lifewhen his eyesight began to fail. Unappreciated at the time, these pastels arenow highly valued. Chardin died in Paris, December 6, 1779.
Список литературы
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