June 27 - September 3, 2000
Special Exhibitions Galleries, second floor
In celebration of the 300th anniversary of the birth of the 18th-century French artist Jean-Siméon Chardin (1699-1779), The Metropolitan Museum of Art will present a major loan exhibition of 66 works that will survey the artist's distinguished career as a still-life and genre painter. On view from June 27 through September 3, 2000, Chardin will be the first exhibition in New York devoted to the artist and the first in the United States in more than 20 years.
In contrast to the rococo extravagance seen in the paintings of his contemporaries, Chardin achieved extraordinary success as a painter of still lifes — then regarded as the least important of artistic genres — and interior scenes of quiet simplicity and pictorial harmony. The critic Denis Diderot wrote in 1763 that a still life by Chardin "is nature itself; the objects free themselves from the canvas and are deceptively true to life." Chardin has continued to be greatly admired, inspiring many 19th-century artists, including Manet and Cézanne.
The exhibition is made possible by The Florence Gould Foundation.
The exhibition was organized by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, the Réunion des musées nationaux, Paris, the Kunstmuseum and Kunsthalle, Düsseldorf, and the Royal Academy of Arts, London.
An indemnity has been granted by the Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities.
More about the exhibition
Philippe de Montebello, Director of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, commented on the exhibition: "During his lifetime, Chardin was recognized as one of the great painters of his day and, rightfully, appreciation for his work has never waned. The Metropolitan is delighted to present the paintings of this exceptional artist to our visitors, who may not be aware of the magnitude of his accomplishments. Through Chardin's eyes, seemingly banal objects and scenes — a copper pot, a washerwoman, a mother admonishing a child, a basket of wild strawberries — are infused with an uncommon degree of emotional intensity in compositions of exquisite balance and beauty. Rejecting the styles and subjects of his contemporaries, such as Boucher and Fragonard, Chardin elevated the still life to a noble art form and achieved a place for himself as a quiet revolutionary in the pantheon of art history."
Jean-Siméon Chardin was received into the Académie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture in 1728, at the age of 28, as a "skilled painter of animals and fruit." The quality of Chardin's naturalism, which followed in the 17th-century Dutch tradition, was exceptional and his success as a still-life painter was immediate.
Arranged chronologically, the exhibition will survey all aspects of Chardin's career and will include many of the artist's best known pictures, such as his early Académie piece, The Ray (1725-6, Musée du Louvre, Paris), which depicts with startling immediacy a gutted ray-fish preyed upon by a bristling cat. Among the other still lifes of exceptional quality on view will be Partridge, Bowl of Plums and Basket of Pears (ca. 1728, Staatliche Kunsthalle, Karlsruhe), and Hare with Game Bag and Powder Flask (ca. 1730, Philadelphia Museum of Art), exemplifying his early work. Shortly thereafter, Chardin turned his attention to kitchen utensils and other humble household objects, often working on a much smaller scale, as in The Copper Cistern (ca. 1735, Louvre, Paris).
In the 1730s, he painted half-lengths, usually representing children, and also explored tranquil genre subjects that portray 18th-century bourgeois life. In these paintings, Chardin ennobles domestic tasks — capturing the quiet meditation of a kitchen maid, the simple act of making a cup of tea, or the innocent play of a child. With its industrious subject, The Washerwoman (1733, Nationalmuseum, Stockholm) conveys moral propriety and, with its depiction of a soap bubble, alludes to the transience of human life.
Among the genre paintings, additional highlights of the exhibition are the Metropolitan's own celebrated canvas, Soap Bubbles, (ca. 1734), Girl with a Shuttlecock (1737, private collection), and The Governess (1739, National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa). These pictures are remarkable for the studied harmony of their pictorial structure.
The exhibition will close with a selection of Chardin's late still lifes, in which he combines bright light with delicate colors and finds a sensitive balance in the seemingly haphazard arrangement of objects. Bouquet of Carnations, Tuberoses and Sweet Peas (ca. 1755, National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh), Basket of Wild Strawberries (1761, private collection) and Three Apples, Two Chestnuts, Bowl and Silver Goblet (ca. 1768, Louvre, Paris) are works of consummate simplicity. Chardin captures the bloom of flowers and the ripeness of fruit, reflections on a silver surface, and the refraction of light through water.
For the 18th-century Académie, history painting was most esteemed, followed by portraiture, landscape, genre, and still life. Nevertheless, throughout Chardin's career, his still life and genre paintings were well received in the annual Salons of the Académie and widely praised by artists and critics alike. An active member of the Académie, he was elected treasurer in 1755 and charged with the hanging of the annual Salon exhibitions.
His reputation grew internationally. It is a testament to his success that his works were sought by many of the most eminent collectors of the day, including not only the French king, Louis XV, but also Catherine the Great of Russia and Frederick the Great of Prussia. Chardin first received an annual royal pension in 1752 and five years later, Louis XV granted the artist living quarters in the Louvre, where he lived the rest of his life.
The works in the exhibition were selected by Pierre Rosenberg, a preeminent Chardin scholar and Director of the Musée du Louvre. At the Metropolitan, the exhibition will be coordinated by Katharine Baetjer, Curator, Department of European Paintings.
Publication
Chardin is accompanied by an illustrated catalogue published in English by the Royal Academy of Arts, London, with essays by Pierre Rosenberg and other noted scholars of 18th-century French painting. Catalogue entries for the paintings have been written by Mr. Rosenberg and the publication also includes a chronology and bibliography on the artist. The English edition will be available in the Museum Shop in both hardcover ($45) and paperback ($29.95) editions.
Travel Itinerary
Prior to the Metropolitan's presentation, Chardin was on view at the Grand Palais, Paris, the Kunsthalle Düsseldorf, and the Royal Academy of Arts, London.
Educational programs
Among the educational events presented by the Metropolitan in conjunction with the exhibition is a special lecture on Friday, June 30, at 6:00 p.m. by Edgar Munhall of The Frick Collection. The Museum will also offer regularly scheduled gallery talks throughout the run of the exhibition and a series of documentary films on selected dates. In addition, the Museum's Web site (www.metmuseum.org) will feature the exhibition.
A special audio tour, part of the Metropolitan's new Key to the Met Audio Guide, will be available for rental at the entrance to the exhibition ($5, $4.50 for members).
The Key to the Met Audio Guide program is sponsored by Bloomberg News.
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May 2, 2000
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