Jean-Siméon Chardin · 1699–1779
Jean-Siméon Chardin
Jean-Siméon Chardin (1699-1779) was a leading French still-life and genre painter of the 18th century. He painted the quiet daily life of the Parisian middle class with affectionate brushwork.
Jean-Siméon Chardin was one of the most famous still-life and genre painters of 18th-century France. In 1728 he showed two works, The Ray and The Buffet (both Louvre Museum), at an exhibition of young painters in Paris and drew high praise from Nicolas de Largillière. He became a member of the Academy that same year.
While Rococo flourished splendidly around the court, Chardin turned his eye to the ordinary lives of the Paris middle class. Alongside mature still lifes, he painted sincere and quiet domestic life with affectionate touch, and is said to have raised its simple, true beauty to its highest. In Japan, The Drawing Study is held.
Jean-Siméon Chardin was born on November 2, 1699 and died on December 6, 1779.
