The fruits of a good upbringing picture. Greuze Jean Baptiste

Jean-Baptiste Greuze
Jean-Baptiste Greuze (Greuze Jean-Baptiste) (1725–1805), French painter.
Born August 21, 1725 in Tournus, Burgundy. Between 1745 and 1750 he studied in Lyon with C. Grandon, then at the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture in Paris. In 1755–1756 he visited Italy.
His first work was the painting “A Father of a Family Explaining the Bible to His Children.” Having become an academician in 1769, he decided to devote himself to historical painting and for this purpose went to Rome. Upon returning to Paris, he exhibited the painting “North and Caracalla”, which had no success. Returning to the everyday genre, Grez soon won one of the first places.
The head of the sentimental-moralizing trend in French painting in the second half of the 18th century, Greuze shared the opinion of the enlighteners about art as an active means of educating morals. In his genre paintings (“The Paralytic, or the Fruits of a Good Education,” 1763, State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg), Greuze glorified the virtues of the third estate, which initially aroused the energetic support of the philosopher Diderot.
The works of the artist Jean Baptiste Greuze are characterized by a combination of sensitivity with exaggerated pathos, idealization of nature, and sometimes a rather well-known sweetness. especially in the numerous images of children's and women's heads.
Although the portrait of Greuze presents the philosopher Denis Diderot as inspired and emotional, his real characteristic was thoughtfulness and seriousness. In the middle of the 18th century, Denis Diderot preferred the sentimental moral teachings of Jean Baptiste Greuze to the moral looseness of Boucher. “Have French artists been putting their brushes at the service of vice and debauchery for too long?” asked the philosopher Diderot.
Painting from the mature period of creativity by the painter Jean Baptiste Greuze “The Guitarist” 1757.
A young man dressed in a theatrical costume tunes his guitar, listening carefully to the sounds. His tired, wide eyes and dull gaze hint at a chaotic lifestyle. The lusciously painted picture is replete with details characteristic of the Flemish genre painters of the 17th century, whose style Greuze sought to surpass.
"Guitar Player" 1757, National Museum, Warsaw

"Spoiled Child" 1760s, Hermitage, St. Petersburg
"Vow of Fidelity to Eros" 1767, Wallace Collection, London
"White Hat" 1780, Museum of Art, Boston
"Portrait of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart" 1763-64
Questions like these accelerated changes in the subject matter of French painting. Diderot introduced the fashion for compassionate sensitivity and he also paved the way for the revival of neoclassicism. The realization of his artistic aspirations was the work of Jacques Louis David, first presented at the Salon of 1781 - the last Salon about which Diderot wrote. But direct imitation of classical art disgusted Diderot. He pointed out that the ancients did not have that model, that antiquity, which they could imitate. Their art was inspired by a sublime idea. And Diderot’s own taste gravitated towards the exact opposite of the clarity achieved by training. He appreciated extremes, he liked fantasy, he considered extravagance a more attractive quality in art than coldness. “Fine art,” wrote Diderot, “needs an element untamed and primitive, something exciting and exaggerated.” His articles, which were never published, but included in the “Literary Correspondence” of Baron Melchior von Grimm, were copied by hand and sent to subscribers in the courts throughout Europe, the idea of the antithesis of the romantic and classical traditions that would animate art after 1800 was theoretically tested for the first time. Greuze, encouraged by Diderot's praise, continued to waste himself in the sentimental genre, no longer noticing the inconsistency of his instructive stories with the new spirit of the time and, apparently, not realizing that he responded to Diderot's tastes no more than Boucher.
In 1769, Diderot announced that he was no longer interested in his work; The critic was even pleased by the failure of another ambitious and pompous film by Greuze, submitted for an Academy diploma.
The scenes of everyday life created by Greuze often contain a moralizing meaning. His paintings were very popular in 18th-century France and earned high praise from moral philosophers such as Diderot. However, when the style of the era changed in favor of neoclassicism, represented by such masters as Jacques Louis David, Greuze fell out of fashion. Unfortunately, the artist's desire to maintain popularity led him to an insincerely sentimental manner. Therefore, until recently, many of his paintings, which were important for the history of art, were not appreciated. Jean Baptiste Greuze died on March 4, 1805 in Paris.
During the French Revolution, Greuze lived in seclusion and did not interfere in politics. By the end of his life he had quite a significant fortune, but lost it in risky ventures. When the convention decided to provide gratuitous apartments to honored writers and artists, Greuze received premises in the Louvre; there he died almost in poverty, forgotten by his contemporaries, whose taste David had mastered at that time. Greuze was also a Freemason, and was a member of the greatest Masonic lodge, the Nine Sisters.
"September Severe et Caracalla"
"Gine visite par Jupiter"
"Charles-Claude de Flahaut de la Billarderie, comte d'Angiviller"
"Sophie Arnould"
"Benjamin Franklin"
"A Boy with a Lesson-book exhibited" 1757
"A Young Child Holding A Spaniel" - "Friends"
. "Ange-Laurent de Lalive de Jully"
"A Lady in Turkish Fancy Dress" 1790

"Amur"
"L'innocence tenant deux pigeons"
"Portrait of Chevalier de Damery"
"Girl with a Dog"
"Portrait de Franois Babuti"
"Portrait of a Boy"
"Portrait of a Girl"
"The Dead Bird" 1800
"Louis-François Robin"
"Boy's Head"
"A Visit from a Priest" 1784
"The Broken Pitcher"
"The Artist's Daughter" 1750s
"Broken Mirror" 1763
"La Simplicite" 1759
"Le petit paresseux"
"Ariadne"
"Psyche"
Genre compositions of Dreams are paintings-stories, paintings-performances, in which there is always an edification or an instructive example. Singing the virtues of the third estate (hard work, frugality, moderation, maternal care, marital fidelity, family harmony), Greuze developed partly the thematic repertoire of J. S. Chardin. However, Chardin did this unobtrusively, delicately, while Grez did it with exaggerated pathos and importunately (theatrical mise-en-scène, pathetic poses, accentuated facial expressions). When comparing Jean-Baptiste Greuze with Chardin, the deliberate artificiality of the first and the extraordinary sincerity and simplicity of the second are especially obvious. In general, Grez's paintings are of a literary and descriptive nature. It is no coincidence that art critics argued that novels could be written based on his paintings. Depicting various life collisions, Grez talked about them in detail and in detail. His paintings are characterized by an entertaining narrative and anecdotal entertainment. At the same time, they are not devoid of subtle realistic observation. A contemporary of the Enlightenment, who shared the ideas of the encyclopedists, Jean-Baptiste Greuze created during his career a whole series of works devoted to the problems of education and relationships between parents and children. One of the most famous paintings by Greuze is “The Country Engagement” (1761, Paris, Louvre), commissioned by Madame de Pompadour’s brother, the Marquis de Marigny, the artist’s main patron during the 1750-1760s. A fragment of the “Village Engagement” is reproduced on the “Portrait of A. F. Poisson, Marquis de Marigny” by A. Roslin (1762, private collection). After the death of de Marigny (1781), the painting, on the advice of academician S. N. Cochin and the first painter of Louis XV, J. B. M. Pierre, was acquired by Louis XVI. “The Country Engagement” created a real sensation at the Salon of 1761 and, according to the Mercure de France, “brought all of Paris to the Louvre.” Depicting an event from the private life of a rural family, Grez embodied in this work the educational ideal of the social world order (family as the basis of the unity and moral health of society). The attractiveness of “Village Engagement” was explained not only by the public clarity of its content (the signing of marriage documents and the presentation of the dowry), but also by its picturesque qualities (a clear, rationally ordered composition, emphasized statuesque figures, expressive facial expressions of the characters). The convincing verisimilitude of the depicted situation and its naturalistic interpretation forced the audience to empathize with the characters, as if they were their relatives or friends. At the same time, the colossal success of “The Village Engagement” was also due to its didactics in the spirit of the new sentimentalist novel and the new ideology of the encyclopedists (the secular concept of marriage, considered mainly as a civil act, and not a sacred religious sacrament, “a contract with God”).
"L"Accordée de Village" - "Village Engagement" 1761
"Head of a Girl in a Cap"
"School Teacher"
"Young Girl In A Lilac Tunic"
"Portrait of Count Pavel Stroganov as a child"
"Portrait of Countess E. P. Shuvalova"
"Portrait of a Young Man with a Hat"
"The Paralytic or Filial Piety" 1763
"The Father's Curse - The Ungrateful Son" - "Father's Curse"
The painting depicts a scene of a family drama, when the son announces to his father that he is leaving for the army, and the father curses him. “The Father’s Curse” is paired with another painting by Greuze, “The Punished Son.”
"The Father's Curse - The Son Punished" - "The Punished Son" 1778
"Portrait de Charles-Etienne de Bourgevin de Vialart"
"Portrait de Ren-Louis de Girardin-Chaalis"
"Claude Watelet" 1765
"Portrait of Joseph" Model at Art Academy
"The Roman Lady's Mercy"
"Baptism"
"Self-Portrait"
Grave of Jean Baptiste Greuze

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Jean-Baptiste Greuze (French Jean-Baptiste Greuze; 1725, Tournus, Burgundy - 1805, Paris) is a famous French painter and draftsman of the second half of the 18th century, one of the largest representatives of the art of the Enlightenment. Born into a roofer's family, he showed an early affinity for drawing. He studied artistic craft in Lyon with C. Grandon. In 1750 he came to Paris and entered the workshop of the historical painter C. J. Natoire. In 1755, at the Salon he exhibited several portraits and a number of genre compositions, in which didactic intonation was first heard, which later became a distinctive feature of his works (“The father of a family reads the Bible to his children” - Paris, private collection; “The Deceived Blind” - Moscow, Pushkin Museum). In 1755, Jean-Baptiste Greuze was admitted to the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture, presenting the composition “The Little Lazy Guy” (Montpellier, Fabre Museum) as a morceau d'agrement and in September of the same year he went with the wealthy philanthropist Abbot Gougenot to Italy, where he visited Rome, Florence, Bologna, Parma, Milan, Naples. The result of the trip was a series of engravings depicting girls in national costumes of different provinces and several paintings on Italian themes. After returning to his homeland in 1757, Grez worked a lot and fruitfully, regularly, until the end of his life. until 1769, exhibited at the Paris Salon. In 1759, he married Anna Gabriela Babuti, the daughter of a bookseller, but the artist’s family life did not work out. In 1767, when Greuze was supposed to travel to Russia, D. Diderot wrote to E.M. Falconet: “...his wife... is one of the most dangerous creatures that exist in the world; I will not despair if one fine day the Empress exiles her to Siberia.” Early works of Jean-Baptiste Greuze, executed in. realistic manner, marked by such a strong influence of Dutch and Flemish masters of the 17th century (subjects, interpretation of images, painting style) that contemporaries compared the artist with Rembrandt and called him a “rival” of D. Teniers and A. Brouwer. However, in 1755-1761. Grez created a number of genre compositions in which he sought to elevate the everyday scene to the level of historical painting. One typical example is the painting “A Woman Reading the Letters of Heloise and Abelard” (c. 1758-1759, Chicago, Art Institute), which testifies to Greuze’s careful study of the works of P. P. Rubens and A. Van Dyck. The plot of the picture was in the spirit of the times: the story of the unhappy love of Abelard and Heloise was especially popular in Paris in the late 1750s. In 1761, J. J. Rousseau’s novel “Julia, or the New Heloise” was published - the pinnacle of European sentimentalism. The main theme of Grez’s work is everyday scenes with moralizing overtones, which are usually contained in the titles of the works themselves: “A Spoiled Child, or the Fruits of a Bad Education” (early 1760s), “The Paralytic, or the Fruits of a Good Education” (1763 , both - St. Petersburg, State Hermitage Museum). The meaning of the moral teaching is revealed through the gestures and facial expressions of the characters, as well as through significant secondary details. Some works of Jean-Baptiste Greuze are sentimental melodramas, others are idyllic in nature (“The First Furrow,” commissioned by P. A. Shuvalov, an admirer of the philosophy of J. J. Rousseau, - 1801, Moscow, Pushkin Museum), but in each of they certainly contain a maxim.

Genre compositions of Dreams are paintings-stories, paintings-performances, in which there is always an edification or an instructive example. Singing the virtues of the third estate (hard work, frugality, moderation, maternal care, marital fidelity, family harmony), Greuze developed partly the thematic repertoire of J. S. Chardin. However, Chardin did this unobtrusively, delicately, while Grez did it with exaggerated pathos and importunately (theatrical mise-en-scène, pathetic poses, accentuated facial expressions). When comparing Jean-Baptiste Greuze with Chardin, the deliberate artificiality of the first and the extraordinary sincerity and simplicity of the second are especially obvious. In general, Grez's paintings are of a literary and descriptive nature. It is no coincidence that art critics argued that novels could be written based on his paintings. Depicting various life collisions, Grez talked about them in detail and in detail. His paintings are characterized by an entertaining narrative and anecdotal entertainment. At the same time, they are not devoid of subtle realistic observation. A contemporary of the Enlightenment, who shared the ideas of the encyclopedists, Jean-Baptiste Greuze created during his career a whole series of works devoted to the problems of education and relationships between parents and children. One of the most famous paintings by Greuze is “The Country Engagement” (1761, Paris, Louvre), commissioned by Madame de Pompadour’s brother, the Marquis de Marigny, the artist’s main patron during the 1750-1760s. A fragment of the “Village Engagement” is reproduced on the “Portrait of A. F. Poisson, Marquis de Marigny” by A. Roslin (1762, private collection). After the death of de Marigny (1781), the painting, on the advice of academician S. N. Cochin and the first painter of Louis XV, J. B. M. Pierre, was acquired by Louis XVI. “The Country Engagement” created a real sensation at the Salon of 1761 and, according to the Mercure de France, “brought all of Paris to the Louvre.” Depicting an event from the private life of a rural family, Grez embodied in this work the educational ideal of the social world order (family as the basis of the unity and moral health of society). The attractiveness of “Village Engagement” was explained not only by the public clarity of its content (the signing of marriage documents and the presentation of the dowry), but also by its picturesque qualities (a clear, rationally ordered composition, emphasized statuesque figures, expressive facial expressions of the characters). The convincing verisimilitude of the depicted situation and its naturalistic interpretation forced the audience to empathize with the characters, as if they were their relatives or friends. At the same time, the colossal success of “The Village Engagement” was also due to its didactics in the spirit of the new sentimentalist novel and the new ideology of the encyclopedists (the secular concept of marriage, considered mainly as a civil act, and not a sacred religious sacrament, “a contract with God”).

The images of Dreams are rather generalized types than specific individuals. The noble father of a large family is an exemplary citizen, aware of his duty and moral responsibility for the happiness and well-being of his children. An old mother, saddened by parting with her daughter and at the same time rejoicing at the arrangement of her fate. The groom respectfully listens to the advice of his father-in-law, who reminds his son-in-law of the responsibilities ahead of him. A chastely modest and shy bride. Loaves of bread neatly stacked on a shelf, depicted in the depths of the picture, indicate the diligent diligence of a successful farmer, providing his family with “daily bread” (labor as the only right to property). A hen with chicks in the foreground hints at the future role of the bride - giving birth and raising children. Conceived in the context of the Enlightenment ideal of marriage and family relations, the “Country Engagement” declared the need for the bride and groom to strictly observe the functions prescribed to them by the laws of nature. This, as the encyclopedists believed, is one of the main guarantors of the viability of a marriage union and, accordingly, social harmony and stability. Along with the everyday paintings of Dreams, his tetes d'expression were very popular at the Salon - images of pretty girls who tenderly caress a dog, cry over a dead bird, thoughtfully look at a broken jug, or raise their eyes to the sky in prayer. Despite the sugary sentimentality and the far-fetched nature of these paintings, in which Jean-Baptiste Greuze emphasized the grace and flirtatious affectation of his models, the salon audience enthusiastically contemplated the “tetes d'expression”, admiring not only the emotionality of the images, but also the soft smoothness of the lines, smoky chiaroscuro and harmonious color scheme.
Meanwhile, despite the phenomenal fame that Grez acquired thanks to everyday scenes and tetes d'expression, the artist sought to receive the title of historical painter, the most prestigious in the academic hierarchy of genres. In 1769, Grez presented to the academicians a morceau de reception on a subject from ancient history “Septimius Severus reproaches his father Caracalla for the attempt on his life” (Paris, Louvre) Members of the academic jury considered the composition unsuccessful, since Grez used techniques characteristic of the everyday genre in his interpretation of the historical theme. Grez’s claims to the Grand style were not in keeping with his creative ones. possibilities were considered unfounded, and he was accepted into the Academy as a genre painter. Portraits are of particular value in the artistic heritage of Jean-Baptiste Greuze. They are more sincere, natural and truthful than his everyday scenes - “living pictures” illustrating vices and virtues. Preferring to depict people close or well known to him, Grez was able to convey the unique originality of a person’s appearance and basic character traits, but his portraits are not distinguished by the depth of psychological analysis and the artistry of execution that were inherent in the best works of his contemporaries: M. C. de La Tour and J.B. Perroneau.

The painting style of Jean-Baptiste Greuze is characterized by a smooth, sluggish and monotonous brushwork and inexpressive coloring with a predominance of brown, olive and gray tones. On the eve of the French Revolution and in the post-revolutionary period, Greuze's works, which did not meet the tastes and requirements of the new era, gradually went out of fashion, although the artist painted portraits of Napoleon and prominent figures of the revolution. In the Salons of 1800, 1802 and 1804. Greuze continued to exhibit paintings on his favorite themes. In the last years of his life, Grez had almost no orders and died forgotten by everyone, in poverty. Like Antoine Watteau, François Boucher and J. O. Fragonard, Greuze was one of the best draftsmen of the 18th century. The richest collection of Grez's drawings, both in terms of the number of sheets (125) and the quality of their preservation, is in the State Hermitage. These are studies of sitters created during their studies at the Paris Academy of Painting and Sculpture, preparatory studies for paintings (mainly figures, heads, hands), executed in a generalized manner with bold and dynamic strokes, as well as sketches of finished compositions. Grez the draftsman masterfully worked in various techniques: black chalk, sanguine, ink, sepia, watercolor, “three pencils.” One of the largest collections of the artist’s works is kept in Russian museums, and this is natural. At the end of the 18th - beginning of the 19th centuries. Greuze, along with J. Robert and C. J. Berne, was the most revered of the French artists in our country. His talent was highly valued by Counts N.A. Demidov, A.S. Stroganov and A.P. Shuvalov, Prince N.B. Yusupov, and President of the Academy of Arts I.I. Betskoy. Demidov, who lived in Paris in the same house as Greuze, bought directly from his workshop and ordered him 25 paintings. Yusupov was in regular correspondence with Jean-Baptiste Greuze. Catherine II acquired the famous “Paralytic” in 1766, on the advice of D. Diderot. In 1782, the Count and Countess of the North (the future Emperor Paul I and his wife) visited the Paris workshop of Grez and commissioned him to paint (“The Widow and Her Curé” - 1786, St. Petersburg, State Hermitage Museum). The writer I. S. Turgenev, who did not have much sympathy for Grez’s work, nevertheless, succumbing to fashion, bought one of his tetes d’expression. Two female “heads” decorated the house of M. I. Tchaikovsky, the composer’s brother.

Genre writer

Style:

rococo

Influence at:

Creation

Among his numerous works, mention should be made:

In the genre of family life with its dramas, Greuze has very few rivals in French painting. He groups the figures perfectly; however, his scenes are partly banal, partly sentimental and theatrical. Greuze occupies an important place in French painting and how portraitist. In his time, French portrait painters cared little about resemblance, as long as the men they depicted looked Marsov And Apollo, and women - Dian , Flor And Wener. Grez understood portraiture differently: his portraits are full of similarity, life, expressiveness, and feeling. His female heads may bear the stamp of too artificial, exaggerated expressiveness, but they are unusually graceful.

In St. Petersburg Hermitage There are eleven works by Greuze:

« Portrait of Count Pavel Alexandrovich Stroganov as a child »,

Greuze's paintings were engraved by the best masters, including Leba, Flipard and Massard the Father.

IN 1868 A monument to him was erected in Grez's homeland in Turnu. At the beginning of the 20th century, the library of the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts contained a rich collection of Greuze’s own drawings.

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Literature

McLean A. Dreams. - M., 1909.
Greuze J.-B. Drawings from the Hermitage collection. Exhibition catalogue. - L., 1977.

Notes

Excerpt characterizing Greuze, Jean-Baptiste

“Let’s go have dinner,” he said with a sigh, getting up and heading to the door.
They entered the elegantly, newly, richly decorated dining room. Everything, from napkins to silver, earthenware and crystal, bore that special imprint of novelty that happens in the household of young spouses. In the middle of dinner, Prince Andrei leaned on his elbow and, like a man who has had something on his heart for a long time and suddenly decides to speak out, with an expression of nervous irritation in which Pierre had never seen his friend before, he began to say:
– Never, never get married, my friend; Here's my advice to you: don't get married until you tell yourself that you did everything you could, and until you stop loving the woman you chose, until you see her clearly; otherwise you will make a cruel and irreparable mistake. Marry an old man, good for nothing... Otherwise, everything that is good and lofty in you will be lost. Everything will be spent on little things. Yes Yes Yes! Don't look at me with such surprise. If you expect something from yourself in the future, then at every step you will feel that everything is over for you, everything is closed except for the living room, where you will stand on the same level as a court lackey and an idiot... So what!...
He waved his hand energetically.
Pierre took off his glasses, causing his face to change, showing even more kindness, and looked at his friend in surprise.
“My wife,” continued Prince Andrei, “is a wonderful woman.” This is one of those rare women with whom you can be at peace with your honor; but, my God, what I wouldn’t give now not to be married! I’m telling you this alone and first, because I love you.
Prince Andrei, saying this, looked even less like than before that Bolkonsky, who was lounging in Anna Pavlovna’s chair and, squinting through his teeth, spoke French phrases. His dry face was still trembling with the nervous animation of every muscle; the eyes, in which the fire of life had previously seemed extinguished, now shone with a radiant, bright shine. It was clear that the more lifeless he seemed in ordinary times, the more energetic he was in these moments of almost painful irritation.
“You don’t understand why I’m saying this,” he continued. – After all, this is a whole life story. You say Bonaparte and his career,” he said, although Pierre did not talk about Bonaparte. – You say Bonaparte; but Bonaparte, when he worked, walked step by step towards his goal, he was free, he had nothing but his goal - and he achieved it. But tie yourself to a woman, and like a shackled convict, you lose all freedom. And everything that you have in you of hope and strength, everything only weighs you down and torments you with remorse. Living rooms, gossip, balls, vanity, insignificance - this is a vicious circle from which I cannot escape. I am now going to war, to the greatest war that has ever happened, but I know nothing and am no good for anything. “Je suis tres aimable et tres caustique, [I am very sweet and very eater,” continued Prince Andrei, “and Anna Pavlovna listens to me.” And this stupid society, without which my wife and these women cannot live... If only you could know what it is toutes les femmes distinguees [all these women of good society] and women in general! My father is right. Selfishness, vanity, stupidity, insignificance in everything - these are women when they show everything as they are. If you look at them in the light, it seems that there is something, but nothing, nothing, nothing! Yes, don’t get married, my soul, don’t get married,” Prince Andrei finished.
“It’s funny to me,” said Pierre, “that you consider yourself incapable, that your life is a spoiled life.” You have everything, everything is ahead. And you…
He didn’t say you, but his tone already showed how highly he valued his friend and how much he expected from him in the future.
“How can he say that!” thought Pierre. Pierre considered Prince Andrei to be a model of all perfections precisely because Prince Andrei united to the highest degree all those qualities that Pierre did not have and which can be most closely expressed by the concept of willpower. Pierre was always amazed at Prince Andrei's ability to calmly deal with all kinds of people, his extraordinary memory, erudition (he read everything, knew everything, had an idea about everything) and most of all his ability to work and study. If Pierre was often struck by Andrei’s lack of ability for dreamy philosophizing (to which Pierre was especially prone), then in this he saw not a disadvantage, but a strength.
In the best, most friendly and simple relationships, flattery or praise is necessary, just as greasing is necessary for the wheels to keep them moving.
“Je suis un homme fini, [I am a finished man,” said Prince Andrei. - What can you say about me? Let’s talk about you,” he said, after a pause and smiling at his comforting thoughts.
This smile was reflected on Pierre’s face at the same instant.

Vow of allegiance to Eros