1699 -1779 · Paris and Royal Academy

Silent materials, absorbed gestures and patient light make Jean Siméon Chardin the great painter of ordinary life in the 18th century.

Jean-Baptiste Siméon Chardin was born in Paris in 1699 into a family of artisans. He grew up near the trades, objects and materials that would become the heart of his painting. Trained in the workshops of Pierre-Jacques Cazes and Noël-Nicolas Coypel, he chose a path far removed from the great historical genre. Rather than gods, battles and palaces, he observed fish, fruits, utensils, children's games and domestic tasks. In 1728, La Raie and Le Buffet attracted attention at the Youth Exhibition and opened the doors of the Royal Academy to him as an animal and fruit painter. In 1728, La Raie and Le Buffet attracted attention at the Youth Exhibition and opened the doors of the Royal Academy to him as a painter of animals and fruits. The Ray transformed a kitchen table into a painting show. The hanging body of fish, oysters, the knife, the laundry and the cat do not form an inventory: their damp, rough, metallic or flexible surfaces are united by a light which circulates the gaze. Chardin does not first draw the contours and then fill them. He constructs the object in small touches, repetitions and vibrations of color, to the point of giving it weight and presence. From the 1730s, he developed genre scenes. The Provider shows a woman interrupted in her service; The Housekeeper transforms a remonstrance into a silent exchange between adult and child; The Child with the Toton follows the concentration of a young boy absorbed in his play. The actions are modest, but the disposition hands, looks, chairs and accessories reveal moral attention without excessive anecdote. The spectator does not witness a demonstrative lesson: he enters a slow time where everyone seems to think while acting. Recognized throughout Europe and supported by royal commissions, Chardin exercised responsibilities at the Academy and obtained accommodation at the Louvre. In his last years, when his eyesight weakened, he turned to pastel and obtained accommodation at the Louvre. In his last years, when his eyesight weakened, he turned to pastel and renewed portraiture with more direct material. Died in Paris in 1779, he turned to pastel and renewed portraiture with more direct material. Died in Paris in 1779, he turned to pastel and renewed portraiture with more direct material. Died in Paris in 1779, he left a work that Diderot admired for its truth of color and that modern painters would regard as a lesson in presence. The "Jean" selection Siméon Chardin" notably compares La Raie and La Pourvoyeuse. His reading favors composition.

Chardin not only captures the appearance of things: he paints their weight, their silence and the time it takes to look at them.