From SUN KING to ROYAL TWILIGHT

Painting in Eighteenth Century France from the Musee Picardie, Amiens

Often considered the pinnacle of the grand French style, imposing and opulent paintings from the 18th century are presented in a major new traveling exhibition from the Musee de Picardie in Amiens, France. From the Sun King to the Royal Twilight: Painting in Eighteenth Century France provides a rich overview of French painting from the reign of Louis IV to the fall of the monarchy.

Jointly organized by the American Federation of Arts and the Musee Picardie, Amiens, the exhibition comprises 76 paintings--many quite magnificent--including the works of familiar masters such as Francois Boucher, Jean-Simeon Chardin, Jean-Honore Fragonard, Nicolas Lancret, and Hubert Robert. Other artists may be less familiar to American audiences, but held important and influential positions at court or with the powerful French Academy of Art.

Historically, these works chronicle the art styles, fashion and politics of the entire 18th century in France. This survey also reflects the shift from royal commissions to patronage by the emerging bourgeoisie, and portrays the shift away from the official and, at times, historical subjects highly prized under Louis XIV, toward an intimate and imaginative rendering of the same subjects.

The 18th century in France was a turbulent era that saw radical change in the form of a revolution that established a new order. This was also the period of the Enlightenment and the Age of Reason, which challenged traditional institutions and models in favor of a new philosophy and progressive educational objectives.

Defying the authority of the king and church, proponents of this intellectual revolution insisted that human conduct be governed by reason and logic. They believed that old structures of power must be removed to create a better world. Such political, economic and social changes had significant impact on the artists, their subject matter and their patronage.

The period examined by this exhibition quite correctly begins with the extraordinarily elegant portrait of Louis XIV in Coronation Dress (ca. 1704-1710), from the studio of Hyacinthe Rigau y Ros, called Rigaud (1659-1743). This formal full-length depiction of the 63-year-old king in his throne room was intended to illustrate the power, style and grandeur of the royal palace.

All the regal insignia are shown, thus attesting to the power of the position including: the sword of Charlemagne, the golden crown of the kings of France, the chains of the Order of the Holy Ghost and the Golden Fleece, the gilt silver scepter tipped with a fleur-de-lis indicating royal authority, and the hand, symbol of judicial power going back to Saint Louis.

This smaller replica of the original in the Louvre Museum reflects a lavishness of the early century that became extinct by the dawn of the next century. Beginning with his acceptance into the Royal Academy in 1684, Rigaud successfully climbed the hierarchical ladder claiming the position of director at the academy and eventually court painter to both Louis XIV and Louis XV. This particular presentation of the monarch engendered numerous replicas both in France and other European courts, and it forever cemented Rigaud's elevated status from which he enjoyed a glorious and fruitful career.

Charles-Andre called Carle Vanloo (1705-1765), was commissioned to paint the extravagant and large canvas entitled The Ostrich Hunt (1738). According to the art standards of the day, the artist strove to respect the guidelines that had been prescribed for this cycle of depictions. The composition and placement of each element has been carefully choreographed to result in the greatest possible drama, even though the representation of the bird is rather fantastic. Given the unfamiliarity of this particular species, the artist probably drew inspiration and borrowed elements from other images.

French 18th century artists accepted a hierarchy of categories that determined the status or importance of a painting by its subject matter. Painters were classified, respected, and paid according to their specialty. Historical, religious and mythological subjects, and the artists who created them, ranked highest, while genre, landscape and still-life painters ranked at the bottom of this scale. The established structure of painters was often more a matter of politics and access to proper education and style, than it was determined purely by talent.

To pursue the grandiose art of history painting, for example, a student would need lengthy instruction in literary and historical studies as would be offered at the French Royal Academy. Instruction at lesser academies could provide adequate studio preparation but, by its inferior status, would forever limit the painter's position and development.

The happy result of this now-antiquated system is that some very skilled and creative artists, not given the opportunity to attempt historical subjects, were forced to specialize in the "minor" categories. Nevertheless, some went on to accomplish great things as painters of modest subjects on a modest scale and, over time, proved to be more influential on future artists.

Such an example of a great talent being recognized from "humble" beginnings would be Jean-Simeon Chardin (1699-1779). Today, with the perspective that time and changing values afford, Chardin is ranked among the finest of all French artists regardless of his choice of subject matter. He was truly a painter's painter whether he was depicting a human figure or a vegetable.

Chardin was primarily concerned with formal problems of composition, manipulation of space, form, color, lighting, painting technique, and the unification of these elements into a total visual experience. (Sounds rather modern, doesn't it?) He repeatedly depicted the most commonplace scenes, with little reference to contemporary events or fashion. The simplicity of his subjects partially accounts for the universal appeal of his art. But Chardin's special and enduring contribution was the nobility with which he endowed those simple subjects, a quality rediscovered in the mid-19th century and valued by artists ever since.

Chardin painted directly from nature, with little or no advance preparation. Rather than even attempting to suggest trompe l'oeil illusionism, his images confront the viewer simultaneously as imaginative arrangements of objects and infinite modulations of painted surfaces. From a distance, objects appear solid and convincing; however, a closer inspection reveals this master's technique. Contours dissolve into a series of broken brushstrokes. Masses are built up of the subtlest variations and gradations of color. In one area he will build color and texture through repeated layering of oil pigments so that the effects seep upward from below; in others he applies the paint so thinly that the texture of the canvas shows through. Such magic effects were not lost on the Impressionists a century later.

A student of both Chardin and Francois Boucher, Jean-Honore Fragonard (1732-1806) evolved into one of the most renowned artists of the period. Another major influence was Rembrandt, whose painting of the Holy Family was studied and copied by Fragonard while on display at the Louvre.

Eventually, he conceived of a secular version of the theme, which retains much of the atmosphere and handling of the earlier Dutch master. In his painting simply called The Cradle (1761-65), Fragonard creates a tender domestic scene within a rustic interior. As a window shutter is opened to allow beam of light to illuminate the small room, the viewer is also invited to join with the mother and others to watch the baby's awakening.

This sensitive yet commonplace image is made all the more natural by Fragonard's bravura of technique and masterful lighting, showing a mixture of superb influences including Rembrandt, Chardin and the Italian baroque masters who he studied while in Italy for five years.

In describing the collection of the Musee de Picardie, Amiens, in the catalog accompanying the exhibition, Pierre Rosenberg, director of the Musee du Louvre, writes, "It must be admitted that few museums in the world can pride themselves on such rich and diversely stimulating an ensemble of French paintings from the period." Indeed, the provincial museum at Amiens is well-noted for its numerous royal commissions among other works, which largely entered the museum's collection as gifts in the 19th century.

From the Sun King to the Royal Twilight: Painting in Eighteenth Century France from the Musee de Picardie is now on tour in the United States where it is booked for four venues over the next year. A fully illustrated catalog, published by the American Federation of Arts, accompanies the exhibition.

Mark M. Johnson is Director of the Montgomery (Alabama) Museum of Fine Arts, Montgomery, and is a Contributing Editor for Arts & Activities.

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