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CONTENTS
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FRAGONARD
“A STRIKING STUDY PROUDLY DRAWN”
FANTASY AT WORK
FRAGONARD IN PRIVATE
CONCLUSION
SUMMARY CHRONOLOGY & BIBLIOGRAPHY
D
GALERIE ÉRIC COATALEM
136, FAUBOURG SAINT HONORÉ 75008 PARIS
T. 01 42 66 17 17 - F. 01 42 66 03 50
coatalem@coatalem.com - www.coatalem.com
D
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Joseph-François Varanchan de Saint-Geniès, his sale,
Paris, 29-30 December 1777, no 14 “une étude frappante
et fièrement touchée; elle représente un lion. Hauteur 44
pouces, largeur 31 pouces. T. [A striking study proudly
drawn; it depicts a lion. Height 44 pouces, width, 31
pouces]” expert P.-A. Paillet; sold for 250 livres to
Mercier; possibly Pierre-Adolphe Hall (1739-1793)
collection, inventoried on 10 May 1778 “Fragonard
(…) Un lion dans la niche de la cheminée [estimé] 48 L.
[Fragonard (…) A lion in the niche of the chimney
[valued] 48 L]”; possibly baron de Staël collection;
Paris, Dominique-Vivant Denon sale, 1 May 1826, no
154 “Une esquisse d’un ton chaud et doré et touchée très
facilement, représentant un lion en repos. H. 37 pouces
et demi – L. 29 pouces et demi. T. [A sketch in warm
golden shades drawn with ease, depicting a lion
resting]”; private collection by descent.
Bibliography:
Portalis, 1889, p. 277, 282;
Nolhac, 1906, p. 152;
Wildenstein, 1960, no 116-117;
Mandel, Wildenstein, 1972, no 125-126;
exh. cat. Paris, New York, 1987-1988, under le no 78;
Cuzin, 1987, no D 60;
Rosenberg, 1989, p. 125-126;
Plinval de Guillebon, 2000, p. 161;
Alasseur, 2012, p. 106, no 13;
exh. cat. Karslruhe, 2013-2014, p. 124, note 2.
Jean-Honoré Fragonard
(Grasse, 5 April 1732 – Paris, 22 August 1806)
A lion
Oil on canvas
83 x 100.5 cm
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we see again and again in museums, which astonish
us every time we are surprised and amazed by the
intelligence of a composition, of a style, a touch of
colour skilfully applied. But when a major painting
emerges from the past after nearly 200 years, by one
of the greatest artists of the 18th century we can only
rhapsodize about the fact that such masterpieces still
exist “in the wild”.
The reappearance of this spectacular painting by Jean-Honoré Fragonard, which had been
lost since the famous Vivant Denon sale in 1826, a great collector and first curator of the
Louvre, introduces a new aspect of the artist: a lion, reclining, powerful and lurking in the
shadows looks at us with amusement. We knew dogs, bulls, herds, but only a few rare
drawings of this subject allowed us to know that he was interested in the subject. Its style,
both rapid and impetuous is reminiscent of the portraits known as the Figures de Fantaisie
whose modernity and intelligence have been admired since the 18th century. Painted alla
prima, the artist has mixed his colours while they were still wet, such as in the background
which goes from brown to ultramarine blue with skilful handling of the brushes. With
nervous touches, white for the ground and brown for the head, Fragonard has not painted;
rather he has drawn with oil and even sculpted this wild animal with broad brushstrokes.
At least fifty years before Turner, Delacroix and Manet, we can only marvel at so much
freedom and mastery. We hope this rediscovery will allow connoisseurs to realise how
much great artists of all periods and especially the Old Masters, have created works that
are timeless due to the intelligence of their composition, their technique and their vision.
I wish to thank Sarah Catala especially for her skilful and passionate
research into the Varanchan family and especially for writing this
important text which should be of interest to all lovers of Fragonard.
A thought also for Jacques Hourrière, a surprising restorer who has
patiently found an intact painting with all its spontaneity under earlier
abundant restorations. Finally, I am grateful to Christophe Bocahue,
Thomas Hennoque, Elvire de Maintenant, Frédérique Mattéi, Manuela
de Paladines, Séverin Racenet, Dominique Serre and Jean Tournadre
for their valuable help.
ÉRIC COATALEM
The author wishes to express her gratitude to Éric Coatalem for his confidence,
Marie-Anne Dupuy-Vachey for the generosity of her considerable informed
advice and Martial Damblant, Jane MacAvock and Manuela de Paladines for
her valuable help. This work has benefitted from contributions from Romain
Condamine, Camille Debrabant, Marie-Noëlle Grison, Dagmar Korbacher and
Baptiste Mélès whom I also wish to thank.
Jean-Honoré Fragonard
A Lion (detail)
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before entering a private collection, Fragonard’s Lion was until today
kept hidden from view. Despite not being illustrated, the references to
it as a lost work in the early and more recent bibliography have prevented
it from sinking into oblivion. The Lion’s novel and innovative character
again confirm the variety and breadth of both Fragonard’s inspiration
and his technique.
Approaching this artist’s work requires doing without sources to tackle
the abstruseness of interpretation which can only be overcome by luck,
as has recently been the case with his famous Figures de Fantaisie
Like most of the four hundred or so works that comprise the artist’s
œuvre,(2) the Lion is not signed, nor is it dated. Since it was not among
the paintings which the painter exhibited at the Salon, or among those
advertised in the Mercure de France, the Lion is not mentioned by any
of Fragonard’s contemporaries.
However, a descriptive analysis followed by a study of visual and literary
analogies allows us to recall certain qualities specific to the artist such
as the demonstration of the materiality of his painting which forms a
dialogue with the Old Masters and to consider the place of animals,
especially the lion, within his artistic production. The depiction of this
animal reveals a little known side of Fragonard, since it links him
closely to the scientific and philosophical debates on the nature of species
that enlivened Parisian intellectual circles at the end of the Century
of Enlightenment.
Jean-Honoré Fragonard
Self-portrait turned three quarters to the Left c. 1778-1780, black chalk
130 x 102 mm
Paris, musée du Louvre, RF41191
INTRODUCTION
(1) - See the article by Marie-Anne Dupuy-Vachey
published on 12 july 2012 on the website La Tribune
de l ’Art (http://www.latribunedelart.com/
fragonard-and-the-fantasy-figure-painting-
the-imagination) and Blumenfeld, 2013.
(2) - Estimation based on the numbers published in
Cuzin, 1987 and Rosenberg, 1989.
ILLUSTRATION . 1
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in France, Fragonard worked in all the genres, in history painting with
religious, mythological and historical subjects as much as in the depiction
of scenes of everyday life or scenes of gallantry (Fêtes galantes). The
variety of Fragonard’s inspiration is combined with a perfectly mastered
technique that allowed him to diversify his manner, as if carried away
in a perpetual quest to renew his style. Research over the past number
of years by Pierre Rosenberg, Jean-Pierre Cuzin and Marie-Anne
Dupuy-Vachey has highlighted both the variety and depth of his work,
nourished by his knowledge of the Old Masters acquired from significant
travel abroad as proven by Sophie Raux and Amaya Alzaga Ruiz,(3) in
addition to great knowledge of literature as recently demonstrated by
Marie-Anne Dupuy-Vachey.(4) Carole Blumenfeld, who has endeavoured
to define the art and character of Marguerite Gérard (1761-1837), a
painter who was Fragonard’s sister-in-law, has contributed to a greater
knowledge of the methods used in the master’s studio.(5) Other
publications, produced by English and American scholars in particular,
have formulated interpretations for painted groups such as the Progress
of Love and the Figures de Fantaisie,(6) thus contributing to the development
of our knowledge of Fragonard’s art.
Born in Grasse to a family of merchants, Fragonard arrived in Paris at
the age of six. Seven years later, he joined a notary’s firm and attracted
attention for his interest in drawing which brought him to the studio
of the painter François Boucher (1703-1770). This painter sent the youth
for a time to Jean-Siméon Chardin (1699-1779) who taught him the basics
of the profession and then rounded off his apprenticeship by pushing
him to compete for the Grand Prix de Rome organized each year by the
Académie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture, the winner of which
finished his training in Italy. In 1752, when he entered for the first time,
Fragonard won this prestigious competition with his Jeroboam Sacrificing
to the Idols (Paris, École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts). He attended
the École Royale des Élèves Protégés, directed at the time by Carle Van
Loo (1705-1765), until 1758 when he travelled to Rome. Being a pensionnaire
at the Palazzo Mancini, he was encouraged to make copies after the
Antique and the Old Masters whose beauty shook him, as the director
of the French Academy in Rome, Charles-Joseph Natoire (1700-1777)(7)
noted. Landscape at the time was of major importance in Fragonard’s
artistic activity, almost as a personal outlet. Sometimes in the company
of the painter Hubert Robert (1733-1808) he drew, using red chalk
especially, the abandoned architecture of the past with lush vegetation
in situ. He preferred black chalk for his copies after the Old Masters with
which he filled his portfolios when he visited Naples before Bologna,
Venice and Genoa together with the Abbé de Saint-Non, his first patron.
The Italian and northern paintings observed during this stay form the
basis of his knowledge of art, from which he continued to draw inspiration
throughout his career.
FRAGONARD
- See Raux, 2007 and Alzaga Ruiz, 2013.
- For Fragonard’s works illustrating Ariosto’s Orlando Furioso,
La Fontaine’s Fables and Don Quixote by Cervantes,
see Dupuy-Vachey, 2003 and exh. cat. Paris, 2007.
- See exh. cat. Paris, 2009.
- See respectively Bailey, 2011 and Percival, 2012. The recent analysis
of the two versions of the Fountain of Love in Molotiu, 2007 should be added.
- See exh. cat. Paris, New York, 1987-1989, p. 67.
> ? @ A B C D A D E F G E @ H D A @ E I
Portrait of the Abbé de Saint-Non 1769
oil on canvas
80 x 65 cm
Paris, musée du Louvre
M.I. 1061.
ILLUSTRATION . 2
J K L M N O P Q R S R T U V R agréé at the Académie Royale de Peinture et de
Sculpture for his Corésus and Callirhoë (Paris, Musée du Louvre), which
aroused general enthusiasm when it was exhibited at the Salon in the
same year. Perceived as the reviver of History painting, Fragonard
turned away from a promising official career, preferring instead to
aim his work at private clients only. He then tackled many subjects for
which he adapted his manner in paintings that are not dated and for
which there is little documentation, complicating their chronology.
The creation of the famous painted sketches called Figures de Fantaisie
dated between 1768 and 1769(8) is followed by that of a series of four
panels on the theme of love, commissioned in 1771 to decorate the
interior of the Pavillon de Louveciennes for Madame du Barry (New
York, Frick Collection). The works were paid for and were hung before
being returned to the painter and replaced by paintings by Joseph-Marie
Vien (1716-1809). This misfortune was followed by a second one, that
of the abandonment of the decoration commissioned by Mademoiselle
Guimard for her house in Paris. The offer of a trip around Europe from
the Fermier Général Jacques-Onésyme Bergeret de Grancourt which
came at this time, appears to be providential. Together, the two men
accompanied by their families travelled around Italy during the autumn
of 1773, before going to Austria and Germany. On his return to France
in 1774, Fragonard renewed his style; the manner became more refined
while the colours softened under the influence of diffuse silvery light
on the paintings created after 1775 such as Le Verrou (Paris, musée du
Louvre) and the Fountain of Love (London, Wallace Collection) amongst
others. The Revolution upset Fragonard’s career and he decided to
withdraw for some time to his native Provence before moving back to
Paris during the Convention with the title of Curator of the Museum
Central des Arts. According to his grandson Théophile, during this
period, Fragonard, deprived of his clients, created many drawings
illustrating Ariosto’s (1474-1533),(9) Orlando Furioso, consisting of the
final example of his inspiration which had been so fertile (ill. 3).
Jean-Honoré Fragonard
Angelica is Chained to the Rock c. 1780-1790
black chalk, grey and brown wash highlights
393 x 257 mm
Washington, National Gallery of Art
inv. 1978.10.2.
ILLUSTRATION . 3
- From a study of the names of the models
shown on the drawing that shows the Figures
de Fantasie, Carole Blumenfeld has suggested
that the first of these portraits were
begun in 1768 and they were finished in 1769;
see Blumenfeld, 2013, p. 59-60.
- Marie-Anne Dupuy-Vachey
recorded 179 drawings in exh. cat. Paris, 2007,
p. 121, p. 122, note 2.
W X Y Z [ \ ] ^ _ ` Z a b b c Y _ Z d ] [ ] [ b \ ^ _ ` d b \ e c ^ \ ] [ \ ] f ^ Y _ [ \ d [ Y g ^ h b i d f [ Z _ b h d
in the harmony of colour, hardly hesitates in painting; his brush wanders
boldly, applying to each object its local colour, he unites together the
light & halftones; he joins these with shadows. The trace of this brush
whose path we must follow indicates freedom, confidence, finally
facility.” This definition of the word “facilité [facility]” written by
Claude-Henri Watelet for Diderot and d’Alembert’s Encyclopédie applies
perfectly to Fragonard’s manner, or rather his styles as he varies them
so much during his career. At the sale of the painting in 1777, the
catalogue drawn up by the expert Alexandre-Joseph Paillet (1743-1814),
records “A striking study proudly drawn; it depicts a lion.” Later, at the
Denon sale, reference is made to “A sketch in warm golden shades drawn
with ease, depicting a lion resting” In the absence of sources documenting
the Lion other than its rare appearances at auction, the inflection of the
touch remains a precious indicator of date.
Alla primaThe recumbent lion, squatting against a wall whose form is not defined,
turns its mouth and gaze towards the viewer. The simplicity of the
composition with its tight layout corresponds to the absence of anecdote,
which could almost limit the lion to the role of an archetype. Captured
from a slightly low angle, the feline occupies most of the surface of the
canvas, allowing a small amount of earthen floor and a neutral background
to be seen around it. The lion’s majestic silhouette stands out due to a strong
diagonal contrast of light and dark. It is not the wild animal’s ferocity, but
rather its strength that animates it, even in its stillness, and which Fragonard
has captured with the energy of his brush. The painter has covered the
canvas with warm monochrome shades of ochre going from crimson for
the background to golden yellow for the paws under the effect of the light,
captured by generous white impasto. Fragonard is lively, without being
allusive, in the construction of the volumes of the feline’s body built from
a multitude of thick and fine, long and short brushstrokes, which are
always quick and superimposed, sometimes intermingled, the paint not
“A STRIKING STUDY PROUDLY DRAWN”
> ? @ A B C D A D E F G E @ H D A @ E I
A Lion (detail)
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evokes rather than conveys the animal’s mouth, and is complemented by
brown highlights defining the eyes and muzzle. Filled especially with oil,
the paint shines with short brush strokes from the mane to the fur of his
flank, while the accents elongate to define the animal’s tail. Broad impasto
in lighter shades shows the falling light, sliding fluidly on its paws, and
then emphasizes its claws. The smears in the background show how much
Fragonard, taken up by the speed of his gesture, has refrained from melting
the dark ochres and blue to mix them directly in the wet paint. In paying
special attention to the effects of light on the surfaces due to the vitality,
even the freedom of his touch, Fragonard gives solidity and life to the
feline whose calm is only apparent. In exploiting and using the richness
of the impasto’s visual effects applied with lively dexterity, Fragonard here
foils, like with the Figures de Fantaisie, the conventional categories of
paintings’ functions established from the quality of their finish.
Experimenting with spontaneity in working alla prima, in other words
creating a composition without any preparation so as to keep the creative
momentum intact, is frequent in Fragonard’s work. This act is nevertheless
preceded by research in the form of drawings which are sometimes
finished such as for the White Bull (ill. 4), or remain at the stage of a sketch
as recently shown for the Figures de Fantaisie.(10) Although there are
currently no known drawings closely related to the Lion, this intermediary
stage must be kept in mind. It certainly anticipates decisively Fragonard’s
gesture in generating the action of painting and which culminates in
the manner that is so vigorous at the end of the 1760s and which
unequivocally links the Lion more closely to the Figures de Fantaisie
Jean-Honoré Fragonard
The White Bull in the Shed oil on canvas
72 x 91 cm
Paris, musée du Louvre, RF 1975.10.
ILLUSTRATION . 4
> ? @ A B C D A D E F G E @ H D A @ E I
A Lion (detail)
(10) - Exh. cat. Paris,
New York,
1987-1988,
n° 75-77, 79-80.
m n o p q r s t u m v s w u o n s q s x y q z o w v { | s } ~ � � � � ~ � � � � v { | s x � u v z o v s s u m s v � u q � x � x
(1696-1770), who Fragonard admired especially, the Figures de Fantaisie
and the Lion stand out in the relation between the artist and the Old
Masters. Indeed, the materiality of paintings of the northern schools
had a strong attraction for Fragonard, beyond which he went to make
it the subject of the painting itself.
While he was aspiring to capture the movement of the figures portrayed
in the Figures de Fantaisie, which are dated to 1768-1769, Fragonard seems
to have set himself the challenge of infusing dynamism when illustrating
the lion’s natural strength, although it is at rest. Several accounts confirm
the painter’s well known speed, with sarcasm when the miniature painter
Pierre-Adolph Hall (1739-1793) drew up the inventory of his collection
on 10 May 1778, noting regarding a painting by Fragonard “A head in
my opinion, in the time that he did portraits in one go for a Louis”, or
precisely as the old label stuck to the back of the portrait of the Abbé de
Saint-Non (ill. 2) says, being inscribed “painted in one hour of time”. The
observation expressed by Uwe Fleckner(11) about the hypothetical portrait
of Ange-Gabriel Meusnier de Querlon (Paris, musée du Louvre), which
had, until last year, been thought to show Denis Diderot(12) could apply
to the Lion: “Everywhere, the cloth of the linen canvas comes through
the sketch applied like a mist and which reminds the viewer of the
smudges that Jacques-Louis David and his disciples would use only a few
decades later to render the expressive power of the contrast between
background and figure. With Fragonard, the bust is nevertheless painted
with hardly any more precision than this bare background and moreover,
the few brushstrokes are applied to the canvas with extraordinary
confidence and without pentimenti. If the brushstrokes seem to be violent,
spontaneous, they do not appear in any way to the viewer, to have been
sketched hastily.” The choice of a range of warm colours is not the only
point in common between the Figures de Fantaisie and the Lion. Indeed,
on the Portrait of Anne-François d’Harcourt, duc de Beuvron (ill. 5), the
figure is emphasized by the background treated with dark brown smudges,
while on the Portrait of Gabriel-Auguste Godefroy (private collection),(13)
a few touches of red ochre and Prussian blue revive the colour of the shirt.
These same shades are applied respectively with a stroke of the brush on
the lion’s right eye and on its nose. They are also found on the Head of a
Bald Man (Amiens, Musée de Picardie), dated to the beginning of the
1770s, about which Pierre Rosenberg commented on “the incongruous
touch of steel blue on the model’s right shoulder”.(14) If this work, by its
The Search for Materiality in Painting
> ? @ A B C D A D E F G E @ H D A @ E I
Portrait of Anne-François d’Harcourt, duc de Beuvron c. 1769
oil on canvas
80 x 120 cm
Paris, musée du Louvre
RF1970-32.
ILLUSTRATION . 5
- Fleckner,
2001, p. 510
- Blumenfeld,
2013, p. 40.
- Ibidem, p. 38-39.
- Exh. cat. Paris,
New York,
1987-1988,
n° 102.
> ? @ A B C D A D E F G E @ H D A @ E I
A Lion (detail)
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the attention of art historians, a brief classification can be proposed.
Indeed, three species are frequently repeated in his paintings: the bull
relates to pastoral subjects, the donkey appears in genre scenes, and the
dog is often a key participant in erotic subjects. Except for the lion,
animals which the 18th century defined as “exotic” are absent from the
painter’s corpus.
Associated with the symbol of strength and power, the lion has for
a long time been a preferred allegorical figure for artists careful to
respond to the demands of their clients. The rare presence of lions
in Europe, all in captivity, led artists to use models circulated by
workshop copies, and from the 16th century from prints. Their
presentation at the Ménagerie Royale in Versailles allowing a few
painters to study the species from life, made anatomical knowledge
of the animals more precise without in any way lessening working
after the Old Masters.
Inspiration from the Old Masters“Fragonard is always alert to the paintings of others. His painting rustles
with dialogues”(15) because as Jean-Pierre Cuzin has emphasized, Fragonard
from his first trip to Italy, to the one to Germany in 1774, made a large
number of copies after the Old Masters. In Rome, the painter frequently
reproduced ancient works that dot public and private spaces, such as the
lion’s muzzle from a fountain in the Villa Medici.(16) In Naples, Fragonard
translated St. Mark and the Lion by Giovanni Lanfranco (1582-1647) into
etching (ill. 6), then on the way back to France in 1761 in the company
of the Abbé de Saint-Non, he copied the Vision of St. Jerome which had
been painted by Johann Liss (c. 1595/1600-1631) around 1726 for the church
of San Nicolò da Tolentino.(17) The drawing is only known from its
counterproof and the etching (ill. 7) Fragonard created from it and these
are the first records of a recumbent lion appearing in his work.(18)
Fragonard included a lion on two sheets of figure studies in the Louvre(19)
(ill. 8-9) that relate to the expression of the passions at times in a satirical
FANTASY AT WORK
(15) - Cuzin, 1987, p. 38.
(16) - Rosenberg, Lebrun-Jouve, 2006, n° 86.
(17) - Exh. cat. Paris, New York, 1987-1988, n° 53.
(18) - See also the copy after Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione (1609-1664)
in Venice and after the Antique in Rosenberg, Lebrun-Jouve, 2006, n° 35
and 43, then after the lions in the Palazzo Balbi in Genoa in exh. cat. Paris,
New York, 1987-1988, n° 56.
(19) - Exh. cat. Paris, 2003-2004, n° 10-11.
> ? @ A B C D A D E F G E @ H D A @ E I
after Johann Liss
Vision of St. Jerome c. 1761-1765
etching
163 x 112 mm
London, British Museum, inv. 1882,0311.1151.
Jean-Honoré Fragonard
after Giovanni Lanfranco
Saint Mark c. 1761-1765
etching
116 x 92 mm
London, British Museum, inv. 1924,0112.360.
ILLUSTRATION . 7ILLUSTRATION . 6
> ? @ A B C D A D E F G E @ H D A @ E I
Heads and Busts of Men, Women and Animals c. 1765, black chalk, 199 x 281 mm
Paris, musée du Louvre, inv. 26647.
Jean-Honoré Fragonard
The Triumph of Frederic-Henri of Orange Nassau after Jacques Jordaens1773, black chalk and brown wash
340 x 438 mm
Paris, musée de Louvre, RF 36737.
Jean-Honoré Fragonard
Group of Eleven Figures Attacked by a Lion c. 1765, black chalk, 199 x 281 mm
Paris, musée du Louvre, inv. 26646.
ILLUSTRATION . 9
ILLUSTRATION . 10
ILLUSTRATION . 8
� ¡ ¢ £ ¤ ¥ ¦ ¡ § ¨ £ © ¢ ¡ £ � ª « © £ ¥ ¬ ¡ § £ © ¥ continued to be the most valued source
for artists in the second half of the 18th century. Published in Amsterdam
in 1728 or 1729, it is divided into six volumes, each of which contains six
plates that the Frenchman Bernard Picart (1673-1733) engraved after his
own compositions and also after German, Dutch and French masters.
Between 1748 and 1788, the Recueil des lions, was superseded by the
publication in 36 volumes of the Histoire naturelle, générale et particulière
whose texts by Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon (1707-1788) were
accompanied by engravings after drawings by Jacques de Sève (1742-1788).
Ambitious in both its scientific approach and its format, the Histoire
naturelle counted among the French language publications that were
most often included in French 18th century libraries.
To understand Fragonard’s art, the question of reference making must
be addressed since it is on this that his originality is founded. Complex
because they are diverse, references relate to works by masters as much
as his own, thus displacing interpretation towards self-citation. When
he confronts the works of the Old Masters, Fragonard does not imitate
them but reappropriates them for himself as much in their forms as
their style.(23)
(20) - Exh. cat. Paris, 2007, n° 5.
(21) - See Dupuy-Vachey, 2003, n° 63, 68 and 151.
(22) - For more about Fragonard’s copy after Jordaens, see Alzaga Ruiz, 2013, p. 53, fig. 76-77.
(23) - See Raux, 2007.
manner, and then added another one on the Interrupted Sacrifice in the
museum of Vigo.(20) In his portrayals of wild animals, he goes beyond
works by Peter-Paul Rubens (1577-1640) and Jacques Jordaens (1593-1678)
depicting animal combats or including allegorical content, which the
painter saw during his trip to Flanders and Holland during the summer
of 1773. Indeed, among the three lions that appear in the illustrations to
the Orlando Furioso(21) (ill. 3) which occupied Fragonard towards the end
of his career, the one located in the lower left of Astolphe recovering his
Human appearance (private collection) precisely repeats the lion in the
copy after the Triumph of William of Orange by Jordaens conserved in
the Louvre (ill. 10).(22)
The Ménagerie at Versailles, designed by the architect Louis le Vau as
early as 1663, allowed domestic and wild animals to be admired sauntering
in the seven courtyards separated by railings. Pieter Boel (1626-1674),
François Desportes (1661-1743) and Jean-Baptiste Oudry (1686-1755) devoted
themselves to studying the animals from life, which was completed by
work in the studio in order to paint a broad range of specimens. However,
the Ménagerie’s role was probably secondary in inspiring most artists
depicting animals, as can be seen in the series of Exotic Hunts for King
Louis XV. Indeed, the Lion Hunt painted by Jean-François de Troy
(1679-1752) in 1735, or the following year, the Leopard Hunt by François
Boucher (1703-1770) owe as much to engraved models as to scenes of
clashes between men and animals by Rubens. The Recueil des lions dessinés
� ® ¯ � ° ¯ ± ² ³ ´ µ ´ ¶ ± · ´ ¸ ¯ ¹
It is the intelligence of the artist’s vision of his predecessors’ work
that guide his confident gesture with emulation, a captivating example
of which is the Lion. To date, only three drawings showing this just
animal exist in Fragonard’s corpus: the sheets of studies of the Berlin
Kupferstichkabinet (ill. 11-12) and the wash drawing at the Albertina
in Vienna (ill. 13), all published without the working methods used by
the artist ever being clarified.(24) The Berlin drawings which consist of
studies of lions do not seem in our view to have been drawn from life,
because despite the distribution of the details of the animal’s body over
the surface of the sheet, which could have resulted from observation at
the Ménagerie Royale, several elements suggest that it is instead the
reinterpretation of one or several engraved models. Indeed, the five heads
of recumbent lions (ill.11), especially the two on the left of the sheet,
derive from the print by Picart who studied “ad vivum” as the letter
indicates (ill. 14). We find the elongated and rounded muzzle, as well as
the closed eyes with puffy eyelids. On the sheet, the only lion that
Fragonard depicts fully repeats exactly, although reversed, the pose of
Picart’s one. Later it was shown again with the suppleness of the wash
at the bottom of the sheet at the Sydney Art Gallery, which illustrates a
passage from Ariosto’s Orlando Furioso (ill. 15).(25) On the second Berlin
> ? @ A B C D A D E F G E @ H D A @ E I
Studies of Two Lions c. 1770, black chalk, 173 x 244 mm
Berlin, Kupferstichkabinett, inv. KdZ 12916.
Bernard Picard
Recueil des lions, dessinés d’après nature par divers maîtres c. 1728
etching, 132 x 184 mm
London, British Museum, inv. 1952,0117.14.102.
Jean-Honoré Fragonard
Astolfo puts the dragons and lions to flight with his magic horn c. 1790-1800
black chalk and brown wash, 399 x 272 mm
Sydney, Art Gallery, inv. 7.1982.
Jean-Honoré Fragonard
Studies of a Lion and Lions’ Headsc. 1770, black chalk, 143 x 165 mm
Berlin, Kupferstichkabinett, inv. KdZ 12917.Jean-Honoré Fragonard
Lion c. 1770, pen and brown ink, brown wash over black chalk underdrawing, 344 x 445 mm
Vienna, Albertina, inv. 12733.
ILLUSTRATION . 12
ILLUSTRATION . 14 ILLUSTRATION . 15
ILLUSTRATION . 11
ILLUSTRATION . 13
º » ¼ ½ - In the most recent publication of the lions in Vienna and Berlin (exh. cat. Karlsruhe, 2013, n° 42-43), the author of
the catalogue entry evokes the direct observation of the animals enclosed in the Ménagerie du Roi by the painters
Pieter Boel and Jean-Baptiste Oudry, before comparing Fragonard’s drawings with the engraved plates of the Recueil
des Lions and the Histoire Naturelle. However, the analysis does not go as far as a comparison and evades the question
of whether or not a lion was observed from life.
(25) - Orlando Furioso: Astolfo puts the dragons and lions to flight with his magic horn black chalk and brown wash, 399 x 272 mm,
Sydney, Art Gallery of New South Wales, inv. 7.1982; for the connection to Ariosto see Dupuy-Vachey, 2003, n° 151.
¾ ¿ À Á Â Ã ill. 12), the artist has drawn the profile of a lion of the species
known “Atlas”, formerly called a “lion of Barbary”, whose spectacular
mane extends on the chest as far as the belly. One cannot fail to note the
dissimilarity between the species of lions on these sheets which cannot
be studies from life of a single specimen kept in captivity. Furthermore,
the lion in profile, which is very detailed in its stillness to respond to this
type of quick execution, corresponds perfectly to work in the studio
which would the artist would return to in the 1770s, with the fluidity of
the wash on the Vienna sheet. The profile all antica, in the antique manner
is reminiscent as much of sculptures Fragonard copied at the Palazzo
Balbi as the plates of Buffon’s Histoire Naturelle where each animal is
shown full length, in profile, in a landscape evoking its natural habitat
(ill. 16-17). The artist’s method reveals his ambitions, to the extent that
starting from the engraved widely circulated prototype of an animal,
he has created his own model by enriching it with his own imagination.
In our opinion we think this same process is used for the Lion painted
by Fragonard in 1769. The painter, who was working on the Figures de
Fantaisie at the time, increases the distance separating him from
engravings observed such as the one after Rembrandt which was inserted
in the Recueil des Lions (ill. 18). He has readjusted the elongated pose to
retain only the position of the paws which is so typical of the feline,
while the impasto of his brush models the lion in which all the species
are combined to create an archetype.
Our canvas exemplifies the vitality of Fragonard’s invention in 1769 which
is also expressed in the freedom of handling, without evading the depth
of reflection in the choice of subject, for which we suggest an interpretation.
Jacques de Sève
« Bull », Histoire naturelle by Buffon etching, 319 x 437 mm
Paris, bibliothèque nationale de France.
Jacques de Sève
« Lion », Histoire naturelle by Buffon etching, 344 x 445 mm
Paris, bibliothèque nationale de France.
ILLUSTRATION . 17ILLUSTRATION . 16
> ? @ A B C D A D E F G E @ H D A @ E I
after Rembrandt
Recueil des lions, dessinés d’après nature par divers maîtresetching, 120 x 170 mm
London, British Museum, inv. 1914,0214.108.
ILLUSTRATION . 18
> ? @ A B C D A D E F G E @ H D A @ E I
A lionoil on canvas
83 x 100.5 cm.
Ä Å Æ Ç È É Ê Ë Å Ì Ê Í Ç Î Ç Ë Ì Í Ê É Ï Í Ë Ð Ñ É Ò Ó É Ð Ë Ê Ë É Å Ê É Ë Å È Ç Å Ê Ë É Å Ô Õ Ö × Ì É Å × Ö Æ Ô
whose aim was not to create a naturalistic depiction of a lion, was
nevertheless aware of Buffon’s work in the field of natural sciences. As
he had previously done for La Fontaine’s Fables, the illustration of which
punctuated Fragonard’s career from the outset until 1798(26) when he
seems to have begun the long series of drawings for Ariosto’s Orlando
Furioso, Fragonard without doubt carefully read the descriptions of the
bull and the lion in the Histoire Naturelle. Through the prism of this
personal reading, the painting of the lion constitutes the innovative
proof of Fragonard’s familiarity with the scientific and philosophical
currents of his time, which associated with the freedom of manner,
could only enchant the enlightened and faithful admirers of the painter.
A Moral PortraitUntil the appearance of the Lion, the bull was the only animal to be
treated as the sole subject of a painting, such as the famous White Bull in
the Shed (ill. 4). Regarding this canvas, after recalling its iconographical
origins in Dutch Art of the 17th century, Pierre Rosenberg noted in
conclusion almost thirty years ago: “Yet, in emphasizing the creature’s
power, in rendering its presence and its force, and in sacrificing the
anecdotal detail-contrary to his usual custom-Fragonard was innovative.
He was concerned less with depicting the animal’s physical appearance
than with portraying its character (as did the naturalist Buffon, in his
own field); this is the real subject of the picture.”(27) Here we propose
showing Buffon’s comparison of the morality of animals in Fragonard’s
work, which the exhibition catalogue format did not allow to be developed
and is a topic that has not been studied since.
In the Histoire Naturelle, the species are ranked in a hierarchy depending
on common characteristics and then according to qualities shared with
humanity, such as nobility, kindness and loyalty, without omitting
their servitude and dependence on human beings.(28) Thus, the bull is
considered to be the “most useful domestic animal”(29) for man since
it provides essential help for work in the fields, provides food from its
meat and milk from the female, and also contributes to increasing
financial resources through the sale of its skin or semen. The superior
and ideal criteria of the animal’s usefulness in the domestic context
swings towards that of domination for untamed species. According to
Buffon, the lion is incontestably placed at the top of the hierarchy of
wild animals since it is “not the pray of any (...) The lion having no
enemies other than man”.(30) The author continues his observations on
the change in the lion’s behaviour when extracted from its natural
habitat to be put under the authority of humans: “we have seen it
reduced in captivity, being bored without becoming embittered, on the
contrary, taking on gentle habits, obeying its master, flattering the
hand that feeds it”.(31) This passage seems to have attracted Fragonard’s
attention as he chose in the Vienna sheet to show the lion in majesty
FRAGONARD IN PRIVATE
- See exh. cat. Paris, 2007, p. 54-57.
- Exh. cat. Paris, New York, 1987-1988, n° 75, p. 168.
- Exh. cat. Paris, 1996, p. 78.
- Buffon, Histoire naturelle, générale et particulière, avec la description du cabinet du roy, 1753, tome 4, p. 446.
- Buffon, Histoire naturelle, générale et particulière, avec la description du cabinet du roy, 1761, tome 9, p. 4.
- Ibidem, p. 7.
> ? @ A B C D A D E F G E @ H D A @ E I
The Bull and the Dog c. 1770, pen and brown ink, brown wash over underdrawing in black chalk
319 x 437 mm, Vienna, Albertina, inv. 12734.
ILLUSTRATION . 19
Ø Ù Ú Û Ü Ý Þ Û ß Ú ß à á â ã Ù Ü à á ä ß â Ø å ß æ á ã Ø Þ á ç è æ Ø Þ Ü â Ø æ ä é à Ø à à ß ê ß Ù Ø Ú ß Ü â Ü ë
Buffon’s text sheds new light on the connection between the wash
drawings in Vienna illustrating a bull (ill.19) and a lion (ill.13), which
until now has been limited to their manner and subject, but never their
meaning. The emphasis Buffon places on the bull and the lion, which
Fragonard certainly read, enables us to consider that the two wash
drawings in Vienna were conceived as pendants, although we do not
know whether they were together before entering the collection of the
Duc de La Mure in 1787.(32) Nothing of the kind can be envisaged between
the painting of the Lion and the White Bull in the Louvre, due to the
years that probably separate their creation on the one hand and on the
other, due to the difference in their handling and formats.
In our painting the lion is in a resting position, an attitude undoubtedly
the result of its captivity. Indeed, this scene devoid of any anecdotal
dimensions contains several elements that refer to captivity: the tight
framing which reinforces the sensation of a closed universe, the animal
huddling against the wall with its mouth in shadow, and finally the light
projected with the violence of its brilliance diagonally on the ground. A
strong contrast, this comes from the viewer’s actual position, which is
easily placed behind the grid of a large window opening onto the enclosure
containing the animal. While we have no account other than the painting
itself – composition, the handling of the paint, the arrangement of the
light and shadow – and the visual sources referred to earlier, we suggest
that the Lion from its staging of an animal, constrained to immobility,
translates Buffon’s anthropocentric conception for whom the animal
world takes humanity as its reference and point of scale.(33)
- The dimensions of the Lion are 344 x 445 mm and the Bull 319 x 437 mm.
- For more on this, see exh. cat. Paris, 1996, p. 95.
(34) - The painting’s dimensions are inverted since in the 1777 auction catalogue, they are given as height. 119;
width 84 cm and in the 1826 sale as height 101; width 80 cm.
(35) -From an unpublished transcription by Marie-Anne Dupuy-Vachey of the posthumous inventory of Denon’s
property, she has kindly informed us that among Fragonard’s works, only the Sacrifice à la Rose is included
both in the inventory and in the auction catalogue (written communication dated 20 December 2014);
See the many Fragonard works collected by Denon in exh. cat. Paris, 1999-2000, p. 511.
(36) - Plinval de Guillebon, 2001, p. 71.
(37) - Alasseur, 2012, p. 100 et fig. 2.
(38) - Blumenfeld, 2013, p. 76-77, note 157.
ì í î ï ð ñ ò ó ô õ ö ÷ í ø î ù õ ô õ ö ú ñ õ ö û ï ü õ ø ö ý ò þ ï ö ø ÿ î Q î Lion
The last public appearance of the Lion painted by Fragonard was in an
auction catalogue of 1826.(34) This was the dispersal of the collection of
Dominique-Vivant Denon, the writer, diplomat, director of the short-
lived Musée Napoleon and well-informed collector. The Lion is not
recorded in the posthumous inventory of Denon’s property which was
prepared between 16 and 25 May 1825, like other works omitted but
included in the sale the following year.(35) In the monograph on the
miniaturist Hall published in 1867, Frédéric Villot considered that Denon
had acquired some of his collection after the death of the Baron de Staël
having himself bought Hall’s collection in which a Lion “in the niche of
the chimney”(36) is mentioned. The description is not precise enough to
allow confirmation on the basis of the work’s title that it corresponds to
the one belonging to Denon, and its function is not specified in 1826, any
more than it had been in 1777 when it appeared for the first time on the
art market. In that year, the extravagant bids at the Randon de Boisset
the Prince de Conti sales, which ended at that of an anonymous vendor
on 31 December, which several handwritten notes in the auction catalogue
name as “Varanchan”.(37) Confusion has reigned around this name, which
only increased as the bibliography on Fragonard grew during the 20th
century, and has recently been re-examined by Carole Blumenfeld who
has emphasized that “nothing proves that the collection sold at the end of
December 1777 came from a Varanchon [sic] de Saint-Geniès cabinet”.
However, an article by Philippe Alasseur that appeared in 2012 is
the only thorough analysis of the identity of the collector who sold
his property from 29 to 31 December 1777, whom he identifies as
� � � � � � � � � � ' � � � � � � � � � " ' � � � � � � � � � � � � l � � � � " ' � � � � � � � � Lion
while the “Horseman dressed in the Spanish style” reached only a price
of 61 livres. This work was cautiously identified in 2013 as the painter
Michel-Ange Challe (1718-1778) the reflectography process alone
allowing “chal” to be read, the first four letters written on the sketch of
the Figures de Fantaisie under the portrait corresponding to the Horseman
sitting near a Fountain dressed in the Spanish style. Since the last two
letters are not recognizable “Challu” which corresponds to the “Fermier
Général Geoffroy Chalut de Vérin (1705-1787) who was in fact the
brother-in-law of the said Varanchon [sic] de Saint-Geniès” as Carole
Blumenfeld specified, was perhaps rejected too quickly in favour of the
draughtsman of the Menus-Plaisirs, “Challe”. Indeed, Geoffroy Chalut
de Vérin, the husband of Elisabeth Varanchan who was Joseph-François’s
sister and gave lodgings to her nephew Paul, had assembled in her house
on the Place Vendôme as it is now known, a remarkable collection of
paintings which was mentioned at the time in the guides to Paris. The
predominance of the Fermiers Généraux portrayed on the Figures de
Fantaisie which appeared in view of the new proposed identifications
> ? @ A B C D A D E F G E @ H D A @ E I
Horseman sitting near a Fountain dressed in the Spanish style c. 1769
oil on canvas
94 x 74 cm
Barcelona, Museu Nacional d'Arte
de Catalunya.
ILLUSTRATION . 20
- See Alasseur, 2012, in particular the annex, p. 103 which mentions the essential documents for the work done, complemented by the
article “le cabinet de monsieur Varanchan” on his blog (http://fondsdetiroir.com/le-cabinet-de-monsieur-varanchan/), as well as
“Entre Cour et Ferme” which specifies the links and pseudonyms used by the members of the Varanchan family (http://fondsdetiroir.
com/entre-cour-et-ferme/).
- Alasseur, 2012, p. 101 et p. 104, note 31.
- Ibidem, p. 102.
- Cat. exp. Paris, 2007-2008, p. 20 et p. 26, note 11.
- Alasseur, 2012, p. 102.
Joseph-François Varachan de Saint-Geniès (1723-after 1797).(39) This
historian lists the many proposed identifications of “Varanchan” which
Georges Wildenstein was the first to assimilate, in 1960, with Joseph
François Varanchan de Saint-Geniès, Maître d’Hôtel Ordinaire of the
Comtesse de Provence, former Lieutenant-Colonel in the service of the
King of Spain who died precisely around 1777-1778.”(40) Supported by
sources consulted in the archives, Philippe Alasseur has proven that
Joseph-François left the French court in March 1777 after selling
his position of Maître d’Hôtel, ensuring its survival, to his son Paul
(c. 1748-1820), certainly in view of his departure for Spain where his
presence is recorded in 1780(41), and which could explain the dispersal of
his collection of objects of various types: furniture, Chinoiseries, sculptures,
paintings and drawings, including the Horseman sitting near a Fountain
dressed in the Spanish style (ill. 20) and the Lion, both painted by Fragonard.
“When Fragonard was beginning to become known, the father of a
Fermier Général regularly came to his place and gathered a few sketches
and enjoyed himself laughing with him, and gave him a few cakes or
other confections which he knew the young artist liked and with which
he had the precaution of filling his pockets. For a few sous he carried
off spirited sketches, to sell them on for bags of money,” recounts
Louis–Sébastien Mercier in his notes transcribed by Marie-Anne Dupuy-
Vachey who dates them to the 1780s(42) about the interest in Fragonard’s
work of individuals linked to the Fermier Général. We agree with Mark
Ledbury’s suggestion that a member of the Varanchan family be
recognized as this “father of a Fermier Général”, and add that it cannot
be Joseph-François whose son Paul acquired the position of Fermier
Général in 1775. “This man acted a little like the Spanish towards the
Indians who did not know the value of the exchange”, concludes Mercier
who continues the allusion to Joseph-François, a former officer at the
Spanish court, who he may have known personally since he had lent
23,500 livres to his brother, a partner of the expert Paillet in charge of
the 1777 sale.(43) The 1777 sale brought in over 20,000 livres, the Bathers
� � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � �
the horseman in Barcelona noted by the art historian Romain
Condamine,(44) encourage us rather to identify the model with the
Fermier Général Chalut de Vérin. Perhaps the Spanish style costume
that was so fashionable and Joseph-François Varanchan de Saint-Geniès’s
connections encouraged the acquisition of this portrait from Fragonard
in 1769, the year we proposed above for the creation of the Lion. In 1769,
the lieutenant-colonel who was not yet working for the French court,
frequently travelled abroad, but was present in the Paris region, at
Noisiel to attend a baptism as godfather on 29 July.(45) We suggest
that Joseph-François Varanchan de Saint-Geniès, father of Paul de
Varanchan, the future Fermier Général made the most of his passage
close to the capital to visit his friends and family and to acquire from
Fragonard the Horseman sitting near a Fountain dressed in the Spanish
style(46) in which he certainly would have appreciated the features of his
brother-in-law Geoffroy Chalut de Vérin and the Lion for modest amounts
which however his position as a military officer allowed. This is precisely
the benefit he drew from the sale of the Lion and of the ten other paintings
and 18 drawings by Fragonard recorded in the 1777 catalogue,(47) which
Louis-Sébastien Mercier seems to echo. Joseph-François Varanchan de
Saint-Geniès’s marked interest in Fragonard incontestably places him
among the greatest collectors of his time.
- According to Romain Condamine who is preparing a doctoral dissertation entitled “Charles Michel-Ange
Challe (1716-1778)” at the Université Paris-IV supervised by Jérôme de La Gorce, major physical
dissimilarities relating mainly to the shapes of the nose and the lower part of the face between the
known portraits of Challe and the Barcelona portrait. In addition, none of the archival documents
relating to Michel-Ange Challe or his entourage refer to any connection whatsoever between Fragonard
and the designer of the Menus Plaisirs (written communication 12 December 2014).
- Alasseur, 2012, p. 103.
- Carole Blumenfeld reiterates that sitters portrayed in 18th century auction catalogues were not named,
except for members of the royal family; see Blumenfeld, 2013, p. 65.
- Joseph-François Varanchan de Saint-Geniès Sale, Paris, 29-30 December 1777, n° 12-19, 32 for the paintings
and n° 56-66, 76 for the drawings.
S � � Lion painted by Fragonard around 1769 confirms his freedom,
thanks to a style renewed at that time as much as his imagination was
nourished from reading, which his contemporaries appreciated. Its
novel character, the rarity of the animal subject in the painter’s œuvre
the choice of its composition in connection with Buffon’s Histoire
Naturelle, like its many points in common with the Figures de Fantaisie
its provenance which was formerly a mystery, but is now prestigious
from the collection of Joseph-François Varanchan de Saint-Geniès,
complete the Lion’s inclusion among Fragonard’s most surprising
creations, those even that reveal strongly the independence of his mind.
Ranging from the official commissions of portraits of King Louis XV’s
dogs by Oudry to the more intimate Dog of Bergeret de Grandcourt
François-André Vincent (1746-1816), animal portraiture was continually
in the spotlight during the 18th century in France. Fitting into this
context, the Lion contains known visual references such as Picart’s Recueil
des Lions while also calling upon the most innovative intellectual
resources, especially in the scientific domain with Buffon’s illustrated
text. Intended for the private contemplation of a member of the close
circle already powerfully convinced by Fragonard’s art, the portrait of
the wild animal is painted in a manner that is equally personal and
audacious, like the Figures de Fantaisie. Fragonard, conscious of being
liberated from the obligation to seduce a wide public comparing his
paintings with those of other artists, has given free rein to his handling
of the brush. In choosing to depict captive and at rest the species that
is moreover the symbol of strength and domination of the animal
world, Fragonard has rendered the natural majesty of the lion with his
fleeting brush. This visual ambition goes hand in hand with the
intellectual character of the painting, in accordance with the process
also at work for the portraits of the Figures de Fantaisie.
CONCLUSION
D 35
� � � " � � � l � � � � � � � � Lion and this portrait series which continues to
be the source of the painter’s fame is obviously due to their handling and
consequently to their innovative characters, as well as those for whom
they were intended. In seeking to clarify the uncertainties of the Lion’s
provenance, or rather the identity of its mysterious first owner, the famous
“Varanchan” whose name appeared in some annotations on copies of the
catalogue of the sale of 29 to 31 December 1777, we have followed Philippe
Alasseur’s proposal to identify the collector with the personality of
Joseph-François Varanchan de Saint-Geniès. The catalogue of the sale
which also included the portrait of a Horseman Dressed in the Spanish
Style, forming part of the Figures de Fantaisie group has encouraged us
to suggest identifying this portrait with the Fermier Général Geoffroy
Chalut de Vérin. We hope, in addition to closing a gap in Fragonard’s
corpus with the rediscovery of the Lion, to have begun putting into
perspective the links connecting Fragonard to one of the most important
contemporary collectors, Joseph-François Varanchan de Saint-Geniès
whose identity had been confused with other members of his family for
over two centuries, to the point that even his existence was questioned,
a person whose taste for Fragonard’s rapid strokes of the brush was evoked
in the catalogue of the sale of his property “There are certain classes of
amateurs who supremely enjoy a single sketch, they seek the soul & the
thoughts of the man of genius they know they are seeing and recognize.”
Born in Grasse.
Probable date of the Fragonard family’s arrival in Paris.
Apprenticeship with the painters Jean-Siméon Chardin and François Boucher.
Fragonard wins the Grand Prix de Rome at the Académie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture. He enters the École Royale des Élèves Protégés where he remains until 1758.
Sojourn at the Académie de France in Rome. Fragonard visits Tivoli in 1760 and Naples in 1761 with the Abbé de Saint-Non.
Return to France.
Fragonard becomes agréé at the l’Académie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture with the presentation of his Coresus and Callirhoë (Paris, musée du Louvre). The painting is exhibited at the Salon where it is received with great success. Fragonard is allocated housing in the Louvre.
Exhibits at the Salon for the last time. Probable date of the commission for The Swing (London, Wallace Collection).
Marries Marie-Anne Gérard (1745-1823), a miniature painter, who gives birth to their daughter Rosalie. Begins to create his Figures de Fantaisie.
Commission from Mademoiselle Guimard of a decorative scheme for the salon of her hôtel particulier on the rue d’Antin in Paris.
Madame du Barry commissions panels on the theme of the Four Ages of Love for her pavillon at Louveciennes.
Travels to Flanders, then Italy, accompanying the Fermier Général Jacques-Onésyme Bergeret de Grandcourt. The journey continues to Austria and Germany in 1774.
Marguerite Gérard (1761-1837), Fragonard’s sister-in-law becomes his pupil in Paris before becoming his assistant.
Birth of Fragonard’s son, Alexandre-Evariste († 1850), who would later become a well-known painter.
Death of Rosalie near Paris.
The Fragonard family moves to Grasse.
Fragonard is appointed curator of the Museum Central des Arts, the future Louvre museum.
An Imperial decree evicts the artists living in the Louvre palace.
Fragonard dies in Paris.
1732
1738
1747-1748
1752
1758-1761
1761
1765
1767
1769
177o
1771
1773-1774
1775
178o
1788
179o-1791
1793-18oo
18o5
18o6
SUMMARY CHRONOLOGY
Bibliography based on the chronology prepared by Marie-Anne Dupuy for the exh. cat. Paris, New York, 1987-1988.
� � � � � ! " # $ % #
Philippe Alasseur, “Varanchan, collectionneur d’art au XVIIIe siècle : tentative d’identification. Sa vente du 29 au 31 décembre 1777”, Les Cahiers d’Histoire de l’Art, 2012, no 10, p. 98-112.
ALZAGA RUIZ, 2013
Amaya Alzaga Ruiz, “Vienne, Saxe, Mannheim”, La Revue de l’Art, 2013, no 181, p. 25-33.
BAILEY, 2011
Colin B. Bailey, Fragonard’s Progress of love at the Frick Collection, Londres and New York, 2011
BLUMENFELD, 2013
Carole Blumenfeld, Une facétie de Fragonard: les révélations d’un dessin retrouvé, Montreuil, 2013.
CUZIN, 1987
Jean-Pierre Cuzin, Jean-Honoré Fragonard. vie et œuvre. Catalogue complet des peintures, Fribourg, 1987.
CUZIN, SALMON, 2007
Jean-Pierre Cuzin, Dimitri Salmon, Fragonard: regards croisés, Paris, 2007.
DUPUY-VACHEY, 2003
Marie-Anne Dupuy-Vachey, Fragonard et le « Roland furieux », Paris, 2003.
FLECKNER, 2001
Uwe Fleckner, “‘Pourquoi une belle esquisse nous plaît-elle plus qu’un beau tableau ?’ Fragonard, Diderot et l’éloquence du pinceau dans quelques portraits du XVIIIe siècle”, in Thomas Gaehtgens, Christian Michel (dir.), L’art et les normes sociales au XVIIIe siècle, Paris, 2001, p. 509-533.
MANDEL, WILDENSTEIN, 1972
Daniel Wildenstein, Gabriele Mandel Khân, L’opera completa di Fragonard, Milan, 1972.
MOLOTIU, 2007
Andrei Molotiu, Fragonard’s allegories of Love, Los Angeles, 2007.
NOLHAC, 1906
Pierre de Nolhac, J.-H. Fragonard, 1732-1806, Paris, 1906
PERCIVAL, 2012
Melissa Percival, Fragonard and the Fantasy Figure. Painting the Imagination, Farnham , 2012.
PLINVAL DE GUILLEBON, 2000
Régine de Plinval de Guillebon, Pierre Adolphe Hall 1739-1793: miniaturiste suédois, peintre du roi et des enfants de France, Paris, 2000.
PORTALIS, 1889
Roger Portalis, Honoré Fragonard, sa vie et son œuvre, Paris, 1889.
RABREAU, 2007
Daniel Rabreau (dir.), Coresus et Callirhoe de Fragonard: un chef-d’œuvre d’émotion, Bordeaux, 2007
RAUX, 2007
Sophie Raux, “Le voyage de Fragonard et Bergeret en Flandre et Hollande durant l’été 1773”, La Revue de l’art, 2007, no 156, p. 11-28.
ROSENBERG, 1989
Pierre Rosenberg, Tout l’œuvre peint de Fragonard, Paris, 1989.
ROSENBERG, LEBRUN-JOUVE, 2006
Pierre Rosenberg, Claudine Lebrun-Jouve, Les Fragonard de Besançon, Milan, 2006.
WILDENSTEIN, 1960
Georges Wildenstein, Fragonard, London, 1960.
BARCELONA, 2006-2007
Jean-Honoré Fragonard (1732-1806): orígenes e influencias: de Rembrandt al siglo XXI, Barcelone,
CaixaForum Centro Social y Cultural, 10 November 2006 – 11 February 2007 (cat. by Jean-Pierre Cuzin).
FONTAINEBLEAU, VERSAILLES, 2003-2004
Animaux d’Oudry : collection des ducs de Mecklembourg-Schwerin, Fontainebleau, Musée national du château
de Fontainebleau, 5 November 2003 – 9 February 2004; Versailles, Musée national des châteaux de Versailles
et de Trianon, 5 November 2003 – 8 February 2004 (cat. by Vincent Droguet and Xavier Salmon).
KARLSRUHE, 2013-2014
Fragonard. Poesie & Leidenschaft, Karlsruhe, Staatlichen Kunsthalle, 30 November 2013 – 23 February 2014
(cat. edited by Astrid Reuter).
PARIS, 1996
L’animal miroir de l’homme: petit bestiaire du XVIIIe siècle, Paris, Musée Cognacq-Jay, 30 January – 12 May 1996.
PARIS, 1999-2000
Dominique-Vivant Denon, l’œil de Napoléon, Paris, musée du Louvre, 20 October 1999 – 17 January 2000
(cat. edited by Marie-Anne Dupuy).
PARIS, 2003-2004
Fragonard, Paris, musée du Louvre, 3 December 2003 – 8 March 2004 (cat. by Jean-Pierre Cuzin).
PARIS, 2007-2008
Fragonard: les plaisirs d’un siècle, Paris, Musée Jacquemart-André, 3 October 2007 – 13 January 2008
(cat. by Marie-Anne Dupuy-Vachey).
PARIS, 2009
Marguerite Gérard: artiste en 1789, dans l’atelier de Fragonard, Paris, Musée Cognacq-Jay,
10 September – 6 December 2009 (cat. by Carole Blumenfeld and José-Luis de Los Llanos).
PARIS, NEW YORK, 1987-1988
Fragonard, Paris, Galeries nationales du Grand Palais, 24 September 1987 – 4 January 1988; New York,
Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2 February – 8 May 1988 (cat. by Pierre Rosenberg assisted by Marie-Anne Dupuy).
STRASBOURG, TOURS, 2003-2004
L’apothéose du geste: l’esquisse peinte au siècle de Boucher et Fragonard, Strasbourg, Musée des beaux-arts de Strasbourg,
7 June – 14 September 2003; Tours, Musée des beaux-arts, 11 October 2003 – 11 January 2004
(cat. by Dominique Jacquot and Sophie Join-Lambert).
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Books and Articles Exhibition Catalogues
MN-Grand Palais (musée du Louvre) / Gérard Blot : ill. 1
MN-Grand Palais (musée du Louvre) / Daniel Arnaudet : ill. 2
ourtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington : ill. 3
MN-Grand Palais (musée du Louvre) / René-Gabriel Ojéda : ill. 4
MN-Grand Palais (musée du Louvre) / Christian Jean : ill. 5
he Trustees of the British Museum : ill. 6, 7, 14 et 18
MN-Grand Palais (musée du Louvre) / Michèle Bellot : ill. 8 et ill. 9
MN-Grand Palais (musée du Louvre) / Franck Raux : ill. 10
PK, Berlin, Dist. RMN-Grand Palais / Volker-H. Schneider : ill. 11 et ill. 12
lbertina Vienna 2014 : ill. 13 et 19.
rt Gallery of New South Wales D.R. : ill. 15
uséum national d'Histoire naturelle, Dist. RMN-Grand Palais / image du MNHN, bibliothèque centrale : ill. 16 et 17
e Agostini Picture Library / Bridgeman Images : ill. 20.
MN-Grand Palais (musée du Louvre) / Gérard Blot: ill. 1
MN-Grand Palais (musée du Louvre) / Daniel Arnaudet: ill. 2
ourtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington: ill. 3
MN-Grand Palais (musée du Louvre) / René-Gabriel Ojéda: ill. 4
MN-Grand Palais (musée du Louvre) / Christian Jean: ill. 5
he Trustees of the British Museum: ill. 6, 7, 14 and 18
MN-Grand Palais (musée du Louvre) / Michèle Bellot: ill. 8 and ill. 9
MN-Grand Palais (musée du Louvre) / Franck Raux: ill. 10
PK, Berlin, Dist. RMN-Grand Palais / Volker-H. Schneider: ill. 11 and ill. 12
lbertina Vienna 2014: ill. 13 and 19.
rt Gallery of New South Wales D.R.: ill. 15
uséum national d'Histoire naturelle, Dist. RMN-Grand Palais / image du MNHN, bibliothèque centrale: ill. 16 and 17
e Agostini Picture Library / Bridgeman Images: ill. 20.
Traduction : Jane MacAvock
Composé en : Foundry Monoline / Old Style / Wilson
Achevé d’imprimer sur les presses de l’Imprimerie : Deckers Snoeck
le 26 février 2015
Conception graphique : Studio Martial Damblant
Translation: Jane MacAvock
Composed in: Foundry Monoline / Old Style / Wilson
Printing completed on the presses of the Imprimerie: Deckers Snoeck
on 26 February 2015
Graphic Design: Studio Martial Damblant
Crédits photographiquesPhotograph Credits
ColophonColophon