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Historical Artist - Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin (1699 - 1779)
Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin was born in Paris. Although he initially intended to follow
in the footsteps of his carpenter father, Chardin began to study under Pierre Cazes and Nicolas
Coypel. He also learned to paint by copying Dutch and Flemish paintings, encouraging him to
create primarily still-lifes. Despite the small demand for this style of painting at the time,
Chardin career developed and in 1728, he became a full member of the Academy in Paris. As a
result of financial hardships, Chardin began to paint small scenes of domestic life, which were
very popular amongst the public later in his career. He is considered a master of still life.
Chardin's work had little in common with the Rococo painting that dominated French art in the
18th century. At a time when history painting was considered the supreme classification for
public art, Chardin's subjects of choice were viewed as minor categories. He favored simple yet
beautifully textured still lifes, and sensitively handled domestic interiors and genre
paintings. Largely self-taught, he was greatly influenced by the realism and subject matter of
the 17th-century Low Country masters. Despite his unconventional portrayal of the ascendant
bourgeoisie, early support came from patrons in the French aristocracy, including Louis XV.
Though his popularity rested initially on paintings of animals and fruit, by the 1730s he
introduced kitchen utensils into his repertoire. Today his paintings hang in the Louvre and
other major museums. His work became popular with the general public after low-cost engravings
of his paintings became available. He is much admired for his still life work and portraiture in
pastels, which are now highly valued. He was one of Henri Matisse's most admired painters; as an
art student Matisse made copies of four Chardin paintings in the Louvre. Chaim Soutine's still
lifes looked to Chardin for inspiration, as did the paintings of Georges Braque, and later,
Giorgio Morandi.
Contemporary French Artists
Art Galleries in France
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