National Gallery of Art
Through the simple action depicted here, Jean Siméon Chardin reveals dignity and beauty in everyday life. The woman's expression as she concentrates on her task suggests that her thoughts are elsewhere. Each object receives careful treatment from the artist's brush. The table setting is a harmony of white tones: jug, tablecloth, egg, and plate, each subtly different.
As the French philosopher Diderot wrote of Chardin, "it is not white, red, or black pigment that you mix on your palette, it is the very substance of objects." Which object grabs your attention first? Why do you think that is?
Jean Siméon Chardin, "The Attentive Nurse," 1747, oil on canvas, National Gallery of Art, Washington, Samuel H. Kress Collection
Through the simple action depicted here, Jean Siméon Chardin reveals dignity and beauty in everyday life. The woman's expression as she concentrates on her task suggests that her thoughts are elsewhere. Each object receives careful treatment from the artist's brush. The table setting is a harmony of white tones: jug, tablecloth, egg, and plate, each subtly different.
As the French philosopher Diderot wrote of Chardin, "it is not white, red, or black pigment that you mix on your palette, it is the very substance of objects." Which object grabs your attention first? Why do you think that is?
Jean Siméon Chardin, "The Attentive Nurse," 1747, oil on canvas, National Gallery of Art, Washington, Samuel H. Kress Collection
The State Hermitage museum. Official page.
Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin | Saying Grase (Le Beneoicite) | Oil on canvas | 1744
Chardin’s 'Saying Graсe (Le Beneoicite)' from the Hermitage collection is an example of a genre painting which the artist was particularly known for. Chardin painted several versions of the 'Le Beneoicite' composition, but only the Hermitage one has his signature. It is possible that the painter considered it the most successful one.
Chardin’s 'Saying Graсe (Le Beneoicite)' from the Hermitage collection is an example of a genre painting which the artist was particularly known for. Chardin painted several versions of the 'Le Beneoicite' composition, but only the Hermitage one has his signature. It is possible that the painter considered it the most successful one.
National Gallery of Art
We continue our look at #Vanitas with another work of art by Jean Siméon Chardin, “Soap Bubbles.” Have you ever seen this work of art before? What is the first thing you notice?
“Soap Bubbles” is Chardin's earliest work to include human figures. In this painting, a boy concentrates his full attention on a quivering bubble, which seems ready to slip from his pipe. For the 18th-century viewer, bubbles were not only a form of entertainment, but also symbols of the transience of life. “Homo bulla,” a Latin metaphor translating “man as a beautiful but exquisitely delicate and transient bubble,” dates back to the ancient author Varro. What meaning do you think Chardin meant to impart through this work of art? Was he referencing themes of vanitas?
Chardin painted this subject multiple times. Here is “Soap Bubbles” from The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York: http://bit.ly/1MTTVuh, and here it is again, in a version from LACMA Los Angeles County Museum of Art: http://bit.ly/1MiwZ7v. Do you see any differences?#ArtAtoZ
Jean Siméon Chardin, “Soap Bubbles,” probably 1733/1734, oil on canvas, National Gallery of Art, Washington, Gift of Mrs. John W. Simpson, 1942.5.1
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