French Rococo Era Painter, 1732-1806 was a French painter and printmaker whose late Rococo manner was distinguished by remarkable facility, exuberance, and hedonism. One of the most prolific artists active in the last decades of the Ancien Regime, Fragonard produced more than 550 paintings , of which only five are dated. Among his most popular works are genre paintings conveying an atmosphere of intimacy and veiled eroticism. He was born at Grasse, Alpes-Maritimes, the son of François Fragonard, a glover, and Françoise Petit. He was articled to a Paris notary when his father's circumstances became strained through unsuccessful speculations, but showed such talent and inclination for art that he was taken at the age of eighteen to François Boucher, who, recognizing the youth's rare gifts but disinclined to waste his time with one so inexperienced, sent him to Chardin's atelier. Fragonard studied for six months under the great luminist, then returned more fully equipped to Boucher, whose style he soon acquired so completely that the master entrusted him with the execution of replicas of his paintings. Though not yet a pupil of the Academy, Fragonard gained the Prix de Rome in 1752 with a painting of "Jeroboam Sacrificing to the Golden Calf", but before proceeding to Rome he continued to study for three years under Charles-Andre van Loo. In the year preceding his departure he painted the "Christ washing the Feet of the Apostles" now at Grasse cathedral. On September 17, 1756, he took up his abode at the French Academy in Rome, then presided over by Charles-Joseph Natoire. While at Rome, Fragonard contracted a friendship with a fellow painter, Hubert Robert. In 1760, they toured Italy together, executing numerous sketches of local scenery. It was in these romantic gardens, with their fountains, grottos, temples and terraces, that Fragonard conceived the dreams which he was subsequently to render in his art. He also learned to admire the masters of the Dutch and Flemish schools (Rubens, Hals, Rembrandt, Ruisdael), imitating their loose and vigorous brushstrokes. Added to this influence was the deep impression made upon his mind by the florid sumptuousness of Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, whose works he had an opportunity to study in Venice before he returned to Paris in 1761. In 1765 his "Coresus et Callirhoe" secured his admission to the Academy. It was made the subject of a pompous (though not wholly serious) eulogy by Diderot, and was bought by the king, who had it reproduced at the Gobelins factory. Hitherto Fragonard had hesitated between religious, classic and other subjects; but now the demand of the wealthy art patrons of Louis XV's pleasure-loving and licentious court turned him definitely towards those scenes of love and voluptuousness with which his name will ever be associated, and which are only made acceptable by the tender beauty of his color and the virtuosity of his facile brushwork;   Related Paintings of Jean-Honore Fragonard :. | Huile sur toile | The Stolen Kiss | Portrait of Denis Diderot | Blindekuhspiel | Selbstportrat, Oval |
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Charles-Amable Lenoir
(22 October 1860 - 1926) was a French painter. Like his mentor, William-Adolphe Bouguereau, he was an academic painter and painted realistic portraits as well as mythological and religious scenes. His artistic career was so prestigious that he won the Prix de Rome twice and was awarded the Legion d'honneur. Lenoir was born in Châtellaillon, a small town just outside of La Rochelle. His mother was a seamstress and his father was a customs officer. When he was young, his father was reassigned and the family moved to Fouras. He did not start out in life as an artist, but instead began his education at a teachers' college in La Rochelle. Upon graduation, he worked as a teacher and supervisor at the lycee in Rochefort. In August 1883 he was accepted into the École des Beaux-Arts de Paris, he also joined the Academie Julian where he was a student of William-Adolphe Bouguereau and Tony Robert-Fleury. Lenoir made his artistic debut at the Salon in 1887 and continued to exhibit there until his death. He was quickly noticed in the art world, and in 1889 won the Second Prix de Rome for his painting, Jesus et le paralytique (Jesus and a Sick Man with Palsy), and he won the First Prix de Rome the following year for Le Reniement de Saint Pierre (The Denial of St. Peter).His awards did not stop with the Prix de Rome; works shown at the Salons also won prizes, and he received a third-class medal in 1892 for Le Grenier a Vingt Ans (The Garret at twenty years) and a second-class medal in 1896 for La Mort de Sappho (The Death of Sappho).
Arent De Gelder
1645-1727 was one of Rembrandt's last pupils while in Amsterdam, studying in his studio from 1661 to 1663. He was not only one of the most talented of Rembrandt's pupils, but also one of his most devoted followers, for he was the only Dutch artist to paint in the tradition of Rembrandt's late style into the 18th century.
tidemand
Tidemand kom vid 17 års ålder till Köpenhamns konstakademi, studerade där i fem år, tänkte sedan utbilda sig till historiemålare i Munchen, men valde i stället på en kamrats råd Dusseldorf till studieort och reste dit 1837. Han blev elev av Theodor Hildebrandt, men tog tidigare intryck av Carl Friedrich Lessings relativt realistiska historiemåleri. Hans första större målning behandlade ett svenskt ämne, Gustaf Vasa talar till dalkarlarna vid Mora (1841). Målningen inköptes av Rhens och Westfalens konstförening samt förskaffade Tidemand ett resestipendium från Norge och beställning på en altartavla till Vor Freisers kirke i Kristiania. Han reste sedan till Munchen och Italien, återvände till Norge på ett kort besök sommaren 1842, gjorde en studieresa i fjälltrakterna för att samla material till en påtänkt fosterländsk historiemålning, men kom nu till klarhet över sitt mål. Han ville, som han själv yttrat, skildra detta kraftiga naturfolks karaktär seder och vanor. Hans första tavla i detta syfte var Sagoberätterskan 1844, inköptes av drottning Josefina och förskaffade konstnären medlemskap av svenska konstakademien. Efter nya studieresor i Norge målade han Söndagskväll i Hardanger köptes av Oscar I, på slottet i Kristiania och Gudstjänst i en landskyrka. Han bosatte sig 1845 på allvar i Dusseldorf och vann snart ett namn genom de norska bondelivsbilderna. Samma år målade Tidemand i samarbete med Hans Fredrik Gude den romantiska Brudefärden i Hardanger. Revolutionsoroligheterna hade vid denna tid drivit de norske konstnärerna hem till Norge, och det såg ut, som skulle konsten nu bli rotfäst i hemlandet. Impulsen till en nationell konst gavs, men då lugn åter inträdde, återvände konstnärerna till utlandet. Under de närmaste åren målade Tidemand för det av Oscar I uppförda lilla lustslottet Oskarshal, som pryddes av uteslutande norska konstverk, serien Norskt bondeliv. Hans sista arbete var förstudier till en aldrig utförd historiemålning, Kristian IV grundlägger Kristiania, beställd av Oscar II. Tidemand skapade även tre altartavlor. I samarbete med Gude målade han Afton på Kröderen (1849), Ljustring (1850), Likfärd på Sognefjorden (1853), Fiskare i fara (1859), med Sophus Jacobsen Lappar på renjakt (1873) och med Morten M??ller Sinclairs landstigning i Romsdalen (1875). Han blev av sin samtid hyllad som Norges främsta representativa konstnär. Hans betydelse ligger i att han i sin konst gav uttryck åt det nationella uppvaknandet i sitt hemland. På samma gång föreställde han det norska folket för den stora allmänheten i utlandet. I Tyskland betraktades han som en av de främsta representanter i samtidens konst. Han fick många utmärkelser såväl i Tyskland som i Paris och i England, och hans arbeten såldes till höga pris. Sina mest omtyckta målningar upprepade han med tillhjälp av flera medhjälpare gång på gång, några i ända till 12 exemplar. Många av hans arbeten är återgivna i kopparstick och litografi. L. Dietrichson utgav Adolph Tidemand, hans liv og hans værker (2 delar, 1878-79).