Watteau and Chardin: New Directions in French Painting

Delightful all day course from the London Art History Society on French 18th century artists Watteau and Chardin.

Clare Ford-Willie began with a good overview of art in France in the century before to set the scene and to pinpoint where some of the themes of the later artists came from. At times she did gloss over some of the history assuming we knew it but she had provided a good handout with more of the detail which helped those of us who in true historian tradition can say “it’s not my period.

She then looked at the work of each artist separately as they work in very different genres. She talked about how Watteau was born in a Flemish area and how we can see the influence of this in his work. She talked about the decorative work he did and then his pictures of contemporary people in autumnal landscapes and his use of Commedia dell’arte figures.

We moved onto Chardin and looked at his still-lives and talked about how he liked placing shapes together, simplifying the composition and using everyday objects. She moved on to his single figure and group genre works.

Finally Ford-Willie outlined the legacy of the artists from their immediate successors through to the Impressionists.

This was a lovely calm and strangely cooling subject for the hottest day of the year, in fact the hottest day on record.

 

 

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