(2 November 1699 - 6 December 1779) was an 18th-century French painter. He is considered a master of still life, and is also noted for his genre paintings which depict kitchen maids, children, and domestic activities. Carefully balanced composition, soft diffusion of light, and granular impasto characterize his work. Chardin was born in Paris, the son of a cabinetmaker, and rarely left the city. He lived on the Left Bank near Saint-Sulpice until 1757, when Louis XV granted him a studio and living quarters in the Louvre. Chardin entered into a marriage contract with Marguerite Saintard in 1723, whom he did not marry until 1731. He served apprenticeships with the history painters Pierre-Jacques Cazes and Noël-Nicolas Coypel, and in 1724 became a master in the Academie de Saint-Luc. According to one nineteenth-century writer, at a time when it was hard for unknown painters to come to the attention of the Royal Academy, he first found notice by displaying a painting at the "small Corpus Christi" (held eight days after the regular one) on the Place Dauphine (by the Pont Neuf). Van Loo, passing by in 1720, bought it and later assisted the young painter   Related Paintings of Jean Simeon Chardin :. | Le philosophe lisant | Still Life with Attributes of the Arts | The Silver Beaker | Frau, Geschirr scheuernd | Frau Geschirr scheuernd |
Related Artists:
Edwin Douglas
1848-1914
Gabriel-Francois Doyen
(1726 - 5 June 1806) was a French painter, who was born at Paris. His passion for art prevailed over his father's wish, and he became in his twelfth year a pupil of Charles-Andra van Loo. Making rapid progress, he obtained at twenty the Grand Prix, and in 1748 set out for Rome. He studied the works of Annibale Carracci, Pietro Berrettini da Cortona, Giulio Romano and Michelangelo, then visited Naples, Venice, Bologna and other Italian cities, and in 1755 returned to Paris. At first unappreciated and disparaged, he resolved by one grand effort to achieve a reputation, and in 1758 he exhibited his Death of Virginia. It was completely successful, and procured him admission to the Acad??mie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture. Among his greatest works are reckoned the Miracle des Ardents, painted for the church of St Genevieve at St Roch (1767)this painting was exhibited in the salon of 1767 which was recorded by Saint-Aubin in "View of the salon of 1767"; the Triumph of Thetis, for the chapel of the Invalides; and the Death of St Louis, for the chapel of the Military School. In 1776 he was appointed professor at the Academy. Soon after the beginning of the French Revolution he accepted the invitation of Catherine II of Russia. and settled at St Petersburg, where he was loaded with honors and rewards. He died there on 5 June 1806.
Sir John Gilbert,RA,PRWS
1817-1897