Jean Chardin
Biography and Paintings of French Still Life and Genre Painter of the 17th Century.
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Jean Chardin (1699-1779)

French artist Jean Chardin is considered one of the finest exponents of still life painting in the history of art of the 18th century. Largely self-taught and strongly influenced by realism, he produced highly polished small-scale still life and genre paintings evoking a sober, simplistic harmony. His most notable works include The Ray, 1728 (Musee du Louvre, Paris), Boy with a Top, 1735 (Sao Paulo Museum of Art) and Woman Cleaning Turnips, 1738 (Alte Pinakothek).

Born in Paris, the son of a Cabinet-Maker, Chardin remained in the city all his life. He apprenticed under the history painters Pierre-Jacques Cazes and Noel-Nicholas Coypel. In 1724 Chardin became a master at the Académie de Saint-Luc (school for the guild of painters and sculptors). His first major painting, The Ray (a still life of various fish and a cat) was exhibited in 1728, and received a warm reception.

On the basis of this work he was accepted into the Academie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture. From 1737 onwards he exhibited regularly at the Salon and served on the organising committee. Chardin had little in common with the whimsical Rococo style of fine art painting that dominated French art at the time, choosing instead to focus on small-scale still lifes, domestic interiors and genre paintings. At the time, the official hierarchy of the genres deemed history painting to be the highest form, and still life the lowest. Despite this, his works were popular and sold well. Examples of his still life pictures include: The Silver Goblet, (Musee du Louvre), The Silver Tureen, c.1728 (The Metropolitian Museum of Art, New York); The Meat Day Meal, c.1731 (Musee du Louvre); Pipes and Drinking Pitcher, 1737 (Musee du Louvre); A 'Lean Diet' with Cooking Utensils, 1731 (Musee du Louvre); Still-Life with Jar of Olives, 1760 (Staatliche Museen, Berlin) and Still-Life with Dead Pheasant and Hunting Bag, 1760 (Staatliche Museen). Chardin mainly used earthy tones in his work, and was a master of texture and the soft diffusion of light.

Chardin's paintings of children were especially popular as they portrayed children in an innocent yet unsentimental manner. Examples include: The Young Schoolmistress, 1736 (National Gallery, London); The Soap Bubble, 1739 (Metropolitan Museum of Art); The Governess, 1739 (National Gallery of Canada) and The Prayer before Meal, 1740 (Musee du Louvre). His domestic scenes are almost poetic, and capture the most simple of daily tasks: a woman writing a letter, a man playing cards, a maid peeling vegetables. His themes show the influence of the Dutch Realist Jan Vermeer who had also painted similar peaceful interior scenes just fifty years previously. In a similar way, Chardin depicted a closed world, one that is frozen in time, displaying restful intimacy, childish pleasures and simple easy-to-understand symbolism. Important works in this area include: The Return from the Market, 1739 (Musee du Louvre); Girl with Racket and Shuttlecock, 1740 (Uffizi, Florence); Boy Playing with Cards, 1740 (Uffizi); Sending the Letter, 1733 (Schloss Charlottenburg, Berlin); The Draughtsman, 1737 (Staatliche Museen, Berlin); The Attentive Nurse, 1738 (National Gallery of Art, Washington); Girl Peeling Vegetables (Alte Pinokothek, Munich); The Canary, 1750 (Musee du Louvre) and Self-Portrait with Eyeshade, 1775 (Musee du Louvre).

In 1752 Chardin was granted an annual salary by King Louis XV and went on to receive further stipends for his work in organising exhibitions at the Salon. A few years later, his eyesight began to weaken and he took to painting in pastels. In fact his Self-Portrait with Eyeshade was executed in this medium. Chardin’s later life was marred by tragedy, when his son, also a painter, drowned in Venice. It is believed that he committed suicide. The artist's last known oil painting was created in 1776, although he continued to paint in pastels until his death, at the age of 80. Chardin's influence on future generations has been well documented. The portrait of a Boy Blowing Bubbles by Edouard Manet and several still lifes by Paul Cezanne show a direct influence. The Fauvist painter Henri Matisse admired his work and copied several when he visited the Louvre. Many other famous artists, including Chaim Soutine, Georges Braque, Giorgio Morandi and Lucian Freud, cite Chardin's work as an inspiration to their painting. He remains one of the great Old Masters of the still life genre.

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