The Petit Palais in Paris is currently hosting a major retrospective of Jean-Baptiste Greuze, marking the 300th anniversary of the 18th-century French painter's birth. The exhibition, titled "Jean-Baptiste Greuze: Childhood Illuminated," examines the artist's depictions of French life through the lens of childhood, showcasing works that were immensely popular during his lifetime but have since fallen out of mainstream appreciation.
Curated by Annick Lemoine, Yuriko Jackall, and Mickaël Szanto, the exhibition argues that Greuze was one of the most daring figures of his era, despite being little celebrated today. The curators emphasize that while contemporary art dominates the nearby Grand Palais during Art Basel, Greuze enjoyed consistent success at the Salon and was regularly collected by wealthy patrons throughout the 1700s. His technically proficient works featured what was considered populist art of the time - emotionally charged depictions of women and children with upward-rolling eyes.
The exhibition presents Greuze's family scenes as critical psychological renderings of societal experiences, including Bible readings, school lessons, and witnessing death. However, unlike William Hogarth's satirical domestic scenes from England a few decades earlier, Greuze's work lacks biting criticism and instead offers sympathetic, appealing softness in both technique and subject matter. The paintings primarily feature wide-eyed figures engaged in wholesome family activities, creating an overwhelmingly sentimental atmosphere.
Visitors first encounter numerous portraits of children clutching dogs, reading forlornly, or glancing adorably over their shoulders with wet, innocent eyes. The exhibition then moves into domestic genre scenes, including "Silence!" (1759), showing a woman caring for her three children, and "Bible Reading" (1755), depicting a peasant family with inattentive children. Additional sections explore father-son relationships and historical scenes like "Septus Severus Reproaching his Son Caracalla" (1767-69).
The most controversial section of the exhibition focuses on what curators describe as "spoiled innocence" and lost virginity themes. This problematic conclusion features multiple paintings of pre-pubescent girls in disturbing contexts, including "The Dead Bird" (1800) and "Young Girl with a Dead Bird" (1763), both allegorical representations of lost innocence. These works show worryingly adorable young girls sighing or crying over dead birds as symbols of their lost purity.
"The Broken Vessel" (1771-72) addresses the theme most explicitly, depicting an exposed girl with disheveled clothing gazing vacantly past the viewer following what appears to be a traumatic sexual experience. The curators note that Greuze was the first painter to associate the loss of virginity with trauma. However, the painting's grand oval frame and the subject's deliberate attractiveness in her dishevelment suggests a romanticization of this cruel experience rather than genuine concern for the victim's suffering.
The exhibition's emphasis on Greuze's contemporary popularity becomes particularly troubling when viewed alongside these disturbing depictions. The widespread acceptance of such imagery reveals more about 18th-century social attitudes toward children and sexual violence than about Greuze's artistic merit. These portrayals represent perhaps the most revealing elements about childhood perspectives of the era, reflecting societal views that modern audiences would find deeply disturbing.
The show runs through January 25, 2026, at the Petit Palais in Paris. While the exhibition attempts to rehabilitate Greuze's reputation as a daring psychological portraitist, it inadvertently exposes the darker aspects of 18th-century attitudes toward childhood innocence and sexual trauma. The contrast between the artist's technical skill and the troubling nature of his subject matter raises important questions about the intersection of art, popularity, and social values in historical context.
