Favorite Artists 2- Jean-Baptiste-Simeon Chardin

Once in a while when thinking of artists, Jean-Baptiste-Simeon Chardin comes to mind.

Chardin, "Self portrait," pastel, 1771

Chardin was a lifelong Parisian and even lived the final years of his life in the Louvre as painter to the King of France. Although he was a contemporary of the rococo era of painters he was quite unlike them in his own work. In that century history painting was considered the pinnacle of art, but much of Chardin's work was still life or figures, neither considered to be as elevated. Chardin's work was hardly as flamboyant as that of others of his era (Watteau or Fragonard, for example).  Instead he dealt in common domestic subject matter.

For me, one of the chief pleasures of Chardin's work is a sense of quiet contemplation. Whether the work is a still life or figurative, the pictures become a source of meditation and sometimes even wonder.

While Chardin was influenced by the art world of his time and by his contemporaries, he was singular in many ways. Mostly self-taught, he did not absorb the working style of a personal teacher so much as he exemplified himself. For one thing, his subject matter was almost documentary rather than romantic and flamboyant in the rococo style. He painted the interiors of French homes, delineating common objects that his contemporaries generally ignored. He dealt with the world of children and domestics and food rather than romantic interludes of the upper classes. He was an integral part of the French Academy, was quite popular in his lifetime, and exhibited regularly in the Salon during his whole life, although by his last years he had faded into near-obscurity.

"Woman Sealing a Letter," oil, ~1734

Chardin began doing figurative paintings, the first maybe his "Woman Sealing a Letter," when in his mid-thirties and already an established painter. Most often he depicted women and children in various pursuits--blowing a bubble, setting up a house of cards, working domestically, and so on.

"The Soap Bubble," 1735

"The House of Cards," ~1735

"Copper Cistern," ~1735

Regardless, it is the still life work that I find most alluring. Some of Chardin's still life works seem completely prosaic. For example, his "Copper Cistern" shows us a vessel used t hold drinking water for the household. The cistern is a tall copper vessel with a tap, hovering over a mug and a dipper. The vertical composition and muted palette provide a sense of quiet happiness, at least for me.

"The Silver Goblet," 1768

"Portrait of Portrait of Françoise-Marguerite Pouget (Madam Chardin)" 1775

In the last years of his career, he turned to pastels, probably because of failing eyesight. Those works are among my personal favorites (see his pastel self-portait above and his portrait of his wife, right), but they were little-appreciated during his lifetime.

Regardless of medium though, Chardin has a special place in my pantheon of art because of his impressive craft and his humble yet moving subject matter.







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Previously:
Favorite Artists