1732 -1806 · Grasse, Paris, Rome, Tivoli and aristocratic gardens

Quick touch, moving gardens and games of desire make Jean-Honoré Fragonard one of the most inventive painters of the French 18th century.

Jean-Honoré Fragonard was born in Grasse in 1732 and arrived in Paris young. After a brief stint at Chardin, he entered the studio of François Boucher, whose decorative freedom and taste for gallant mythologies he retained. Winner of the Prix de Rome in 1752, he stayed in Italy from 1756 to 1761. The gardens of Tivoli, the staircases, the caves and the great Baroque masters transformed his manner. Back in Paris, he was approved by the Academy in 1756 thanks to Coresus and Callirhoé, but quickly moved away from the official career. Returning to Paris, he was approved by the Academy in 1765 thanks to Coresus and Callirhoé, but quickly moved away from the official career. Returning to Paris, he was approved by the Academy in 1765 thanks to Coresus and Callirhoé, but quickly moved away from the official career. Returning to Paris, he was approved by the Academy in 1765 thanks to Coresus and Callirhoé, but quickly moved away from the official career. Returning to Paris, he was approved by the Academy in 1765 thanks to Coresus and Callirhoé, but quickly moved away from the official career. Returning to Paris, movement. The pink dress, the thrown shoe, the hidden young man and the swirling vegetation give desire a light mechanism where every detail participates in the game. In the Figures de fantasy, executed with virtuoso speed, fabric, face and attitude seem to emerge with broad brushstrokes. The Festival in Saint-Cloud transforms the garden into an atmospheric theater, while Renaud in the gardens of Armide mixes literature, architecture and enchanted forest. Fragonard created the Progrès de l'amour series for Madame du Barry, then refused, then taken up for his own house in Grasse. The Revolution ruined a large part of his clientele. He participated for a time in the organization of the future Louvre museum, but died almost forgotten in Paris in 1806. His work nevertheless reveals an astonishing modernity: the touch not only imitates things, it restores their speed, their light and their instability. The "Jean-Honoré Fragonard" selection notably compares The Happy Chances of the Escarpolette and Figure of Fantasy - Abbot of Saint-Non. His reading favors space.

In Fragonard, the touch does not describe after the fact: it runs with the dress, the branch and the gaze, as if desire itself set the painting in motion.