Nicolas Lancret

In a garden glade before a grand fountain, surrounded by a musical party, an elegant woman in a lustrous white gown dances as part of a foursome, raising her eyes to the viewer as if extending an invitation to the dance. This is the enticing scene in the J. Paul Getty Museum's painting "Dance before a Fountain" by Nicolas Lancret (1690-1743), an excellent example of the fete galante, a genre that was created and reached the peak of its popularity in France during the first half of the eighteenth century. This monograph seeks to familiarize American audiences with Lancret, a master of this genre, who was a revered painter in his own time, rivalling his contemporaries Antoine Watteau and Francois Boucher, and a favourite of crowned heads across Europe. Mary Tavener Holmes's engrossing text uses this painting as a springboard to reveal a remarkable amount about the painter, his mode of painting, Paris at the time this work was made, eighteenth-century dance, and the world of art patronage and collecting in France and elsewhere in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Lavishly illustrated with comparative paintings by artists such as Watteau, Boucher, Peter Paul Rubens, Jean-Francois De Troy, Jean-Baptiste Oudry, and Hubert Robert, this fascinating peek into a bygone Parisian era is a treat for the eyes and the intellect alike.

Discusses the major painters and sculptors of the period during the last years of France's ancien regime - a period that started with Watteau and the fete galante and closed with the revolutionary history paintings of David.

"During his lifetime (1690-1743), and throughout the greater part of the eighteenth century, Nicolas Lancret was one of the most celebrated artists in France. After nearly two centuries of having been overshadowed by the work of certain contemporaries (notably Watteau), the singular appeal and sophisticated charm of Lancret's genre paintings are once more widely recognized and appreciated." "This is the first book in English about Lancret, a key force in the development of the visual arts in eighteenth-century France. As one of the leading artists of his time, Lancret counted among his patrons the crowned heads of Europe, along with major connoisseurs among the aristocracy and in the financial community. He was also the favorite genre artist of Louis XV, who commissioned paintings from him for various royal residences--especially Versailles and Fontainebleau." "The reasons for Lancret's popularity and success are apparent in the paintings and drawings splendidly reproduced in this book. His pictures tell lively and intelligible stories, his themes are inventive and entertaining, and his color combinations are bright and striking. His images made the transition from decorative painting to engraving with ease, and then proceeded to capture the popular imagination in much the same way as amusing gossip." "As he matured, Lancret developed his talent for narrative--for a visual form of storytelling that is subtle and sophisticated, yet also ingenuous and folkloric. This tradition in European art was strong and continuous, as reflected in the work of its most famous adherents, Hogarth and Greuze. No eighteenth-century painter was more firmly centered and active in that tradition than Nicolas Lancret."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved

Eighteenth-century women told their life stories through making. With its compelling stories of women's material experiences and practices, Material Lives offers a new perspective on eighteenth-century production and consumption. Genteel women's making has traditionally been seen as decorative, trivial and superficial. Yet their material archives, forged through fabric samples, watercolours, dressed prints and dolls' garments, reveal how women used the material culture of making to record and navigate their lives. Material Lives positions women as 'makers' in a consumer society. Through fragments of fabric and paper, Dyer explores an innovative way of accessing the lives of otherwise obscured women. For researchers and students of material culture, dress history, consumption, gender and women's history, it offers a rich resource to illuminate the power of needles, paintbrushes and scissors.

"During his lifetime (1690-1743), and throughout the greater part of the eighteenth century, Nicolas Lancret was one of the most celebrated artists in France. After nearly two centuries of having been overshadowed by the work of certain contemporaries (notably Watteau), the singular appeal and sophisticated charm of Lancret's genre paintings are once more widely recognized and appreciated." "This is the first book in English about Lancret, a key force in the development of the visual arts in eighteenth-century France. As one of the leading artists of his time, Lancret counted among his patrons the crowned heads of Europe, along with major connoisseurs among the aristocracy and in the financial community. He was also the favorite genre artist of Louis XV, who commissioned paintings from him for various royal residences--especially Versailles and Fontainebleau." "The reasons for Lancret's popularity and success are apparent in the paintings and drawings splendidly reproduced in this book. His pictures tell lively and intelligible stories, his themes are inventive and entertaining, and his color combinations are bright and striking. His images made the transition from decorative painting to engraving with ease, and then proceeded to capture the popular imagination in much the same way as amusing gossip." "As he matured, Lancret developed his talent for narrative--for a visual form of storytelling that is subtle and sophisticated, yet also ingenuous and folkloric. This tradition in European art was strong and continuous, as reflected in the work of its most famous adherents, Hogarth and Greuze. No eighteenth-century painter was more firmly centered and active in that tradition than Nicolas Lancret."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved

This publication catalogues The Met’s remarkable collection of eighteenth-century French paintings in the context of the powerful institutions that governed the visual arts of the time—the Académie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture, the Académie de France à Rome, and the Paris Salon. At the height of their authority during the eighteenth century, these institutions nurtured the talents of artists in all genres. The Met’s collection encompasses stunning examples of work by leading artists of the period, including Antoine Watteau (Mezzetin), Jean Siméon Chardin (The Silver Tureen), François Boucher (The Toilette of Venus), Joseph Siffred Duplessis (Benjamin Franklin), Jean-Baptiste Greuze (Broken Eggs), Hubert Robert (the Bagatelle decorations), Jacques Louis David (The Death of Socrates), the Van Blarenberghes (The Outer Port of Brest), and François Gérard (Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord). In the book’s introduction, author Katharine Baetjer provides a history of the Académie, its establishment, principles, and regulations, along with a discussion of the beginnings of public art discourse in France, taking us through the reforms unleashed by the Revolution. The consequent democratizing of the Salon, brought about by radicals under the leadership of Jacques Louis David, encouraged the formation of new publics with new tastes in subject matter and genres. The catalogue features 126 paintings by 50 artists. Each section includes a short biography of the artist and in-depth discussions of individual paintings incorporating the most up-to-date scholarship.

"Since 2004, the Dallas Museum of Art has been the repository of the renowned collection of eighteenth-century French art assembled by the late Michael Rosenberg. The long-term loan of these masterpieces greatly enhances the collection of European art at the Museum, and the series of scholarly lectures funded by the Foundation, the Michael L. Rosenberg Lecture Series, gives a powerful boost to its European art program. Those lectures, presented by top scholars in the field of European art history, are re-presented in this volume"--

During his lifetime (1690-1743), and throughout the greater part of the eighteenth century, Nicolas Lancret was one of the most celebrated artists in France. After nearly two centuries of having been overshadowed by the work of certain contemporaries (notably Watteau), the singular appeal and sophisticated charm of Lancret's genre paintings are once more widely recognized and appreciated. This is the first book in English about Lancret, a key force in the development of the visual arts in eighteenth-century France. As one of the leading artists of his time, Lancret counted among his patrons the crowned heads of Europe, along with major connoisseurs among the aristocracy and in the financial community. He was also the favorite genre artist of Louis XV, who commissioned paintings from him for various royal residences--especially Versailles and Fontainebleau. The reasons for Lancret's popularity and success are apparent in the paintings and drawings splendidly reproduced in this book. His pictures tell lively and intelligible stories, his themes are inventive and entertaining, and his color combinations are bright and striking. His images made the transition from decorative painting to engraving with ease, and then proceeded to capture the popular imagination in much the same way as amusing gossip. As he matured, Lancret developed his talent for narrative--for a visual form of storytelling that is subtle and sophisticated, yet also ingenuous and folkloric. This tradition in European art was strong and continuous, as reflected in the work of its most famous adherents, Hogarth and Greuze. No eighteenth-century painter was more firmly centered and active in that tradition than Nicolas Lancret.