Few artists of his era depicted children with as much accuracy, sensitivity, and technical virtuosity as Jean-Baptiste Greuze. Famous during his lifetime for his portraits and domestic genre scenes, this 18th-century painter frequently seized upon the subject of childhood to champion the revolutionary new conception of childhood formulated by Enlightenment philosophers. Through this compelling theme, the Petit Palais celebrates his work with a fascinating exhibition rich in exceptional loans.
Chubby faces open wide, dreamy eyes. Their pupils are moist, their cheeks plump and rosy, their eyebrows worried. One child has fallen asleep from boredom over his book, another in her nightgown clutches a small dog in her arms, while a third gazes beyond the frame, lost in thought. Some appear slightly melancholy in their little overcoats that resemble miniature men's clothing. Vulnerable, intelligent, and melancholic, the children painted by Jean-Baptiste Greuze (1725-1805) pierce through the canvas with their lifelike appearance and subtle emotions.
The artist's remarkable technical skill is evident in the shadows cast by eyelashes on cheeks and the airy fineness of blonde curls. An admirer of Jean Siméon Chardin, Frans Hals, and Rembrandt, Greuze demonstrates exceptional technical prowess in his children's portraits with their refined tones. This mastery is apparent whether depicting his own daughters Anne-Geneviève and Louise-Gabrielle, or boys featured in works like "The Little Schoolboy" (1755-1757) and "The Little Lazybones" (1755).
This virtuosity combines extremely fine and polished brushwork, in keeping with the preciousness of his time, with energetic impasto techniques that were remarkably modern for his century. These bold applications of paint allowed him to model facial volumes and clothing folds in certain areas with striking effect. Beneath their tender surfaces, Greuze's works address serious subjects that society preferred not to acknowledge, making him a virtuoso portraitist who captured both the innocence and complexity of childhood during the Age of Enlightenment.
