Guess The Artist (PHOTO)

This 18th century French artist is best known for his decadent and frequently erotic paintings of upper class French society. Guess his identity in the poll below and come back tomorrow for the answer, with more information and artwork by the artist.

Quick Poll

Who is the artist?

François Boucher

Jean-Antoine Watteau

Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin

Jean-Honoré Fragonard

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Comments

[jgcarroll]

08:00 PM on 07/22/2011

Bob Warhol, Andy's voyeuristic older brother. He's got some repressed anger issues, don't you think?

[Sfumato2]

05:39 PM on 07/21/2011

Le verrou, Jean-Honoré Fragonard. I love his painting, The Swing. He loved to be naughty.

[f0rTyLeGz]

02:33 AM on 07/22/2011

I think so too. It's all very Rococo.

[philhellene]

12:18 PM on 07/21/2011

Chardin.

It is in the style of David, Ingres or even Delacroix - sparse in detail, muted colors, blurred lines. Looks even as if it was painted in the Revolutionary period.

[GraphicMatt]

12:07 PM on 07/21/2011

Oh, that's a tough one......I hated all the fete gallant painters......I'll go with Fragonard.....

[jglow77]

11:45 AM on 07/21/2011

Le Verrou (The Bolt) Jean-Honore Fragonard, currently in Louvre.

[Glenn1441]

11:37 AM on 07/21/2011

Love 'The Bolt.' A contemporary reprint of 'Dangerous Liaisons' features this painting on its dust sleeve, and perfectly suits the novel.

[mrm3]

11:26 AM on 07/21/2011

Jean-Michel Basquiat

[GraphicMatt]

12:08 PM on 07/21/2011

LOL......now that was quite the guess.

[Scholastica8]

11:21 AM on 07/21/2011

That was the pouty, sexy, ex-Disney princess video of the day. How little decadence has really changed.

[AlsoSarah]

11:09 AM on 07/21/2011

Who painted it? This drives me crazy.

[Bluelynx]

10:46 AM on 07/21/2011

Never mind who painted it. What on Earth is going on here?

[8journey8]

10:44 AM on 07/21/2011

Wow, if you don't get the point in the posture of the subjects, there is more than one phallic image suggested in the drapery and bedding.....At the time, I think it was probably a shocking painting.

[Scholastica8]

11:18 AM on 07/21/2011

Au contraire. We tend to think that we live in a very licentious time. However, compared to certain past eras we are prudes.

That sort of painting was a profitable genre, particularly in France. Of course, the more prudish elements of society would have tut-tutted, but would have found the keeping of a mistress totally acceptable. It would have been a painting intended for one's mistress' boudoire. Ca1750-ca1820 was an era of increasingly "tropical" behavior (as I once heard it described)

For example, if you look at paintings you'll notice that ladies' decolletage was often covered by a fichu (that scarf that you see in all paintings of Martha Washington). Hot young things had their gowns cut so low and tight that not only was there extreme cleavage, but the auriole of the breasts showed above the bodice. Whip off that delicate scarf and Voila!

Later during the Empire, when the gowns had become high waisted without much understructure, very shear lawn fabric was the height of fashion for young ladies. It was a fairly common trick for them to get dressed, then have their maid pour water over them. The dress would then cling to the body and remain that way as it dried.... leaving little to the imagination.

[8journey8]

12:00 PM on 07/21/2011

I love this information!! Your reply was a treat! Thank you, now I am off to do more study on the details and learn these finer points. Knowledge like this makes me feel more like a world citizen who has a grasp of history rather than a narrow minded little townie who knows little except of her immediate surroundings, you know? Ah, I love the internet!

[romeoforever]

10:30 AM on 07/21/2011

Fragonard or Watteau. I'm going with Watteau, but this is a period of art that has never really grabbed me. Things got a lot more interesting in France a few years later.

[etiennemacchias]

12:00 PM on 07/21/2011

The strong, dramatic colors and the backdrop gave it away. It cannot be Watteau.

[Seneca]

10:27 AM on 07/21/2011

A better quiz would be: Which artist born in the 1500s most influenced the technique of this work of the 18th century artist Fragonard?

[Seneca]

10:23 AM on 07/21/2011

The former Lady Worsley .. as it were.

[Sharkcellar]

10:21 AM on 07/21/2011

Somebody's gonna get f'd tonight.

[3daywkend]

10:41 AM on 07/21/2011

Wrong, that's NOT the title of this painting!
:-)

[Sharkcellar]

11:03 AM on 07/21/2011

It's the 21st century version of 'The Latch'.