,,masterpieces      ,,in ,,colour       
,,edited ,,by      ,t4 ,,leman ,,hare   
,,chardin          ,,in ,,the ,,same    
,,series        ,,artist4               
,,author4        ,,velazquez4           
,s4 ,l4 ,,bensusan4      ,,reynolds4    
,s4 ,l4 ,,bensusan4      ,,turner4      
,c4 ,,lewis ,,hind4      ,,romney4      
,c4 ,,lewis ,,hind4      ,,greuze4      
,,alys ,,eyre ,,macklin4                
,,botticelli4                ,,henry ,b4
 ,,binns4      ,,rossetti4              
,,lucien ,,pissarro4      ,,bellini4    
,,george ,,hay4      ,,fra ,,angelico4  
,,james ,,mason4      ,,rembrandt4      
,,josef ,,israels4      ,,leighton4     
,a4 ,,lys ,,baldry4      ,,raphael4     
,,paul ,g4 ,,konody4      ,,holman      
,,hunt4               ,,mary ,e4        
,,coleridge4      ,,titian4             
,s4 ,l4 ,,bensusan4      ,,millais4     
,a4 ,,lys ,,baldry4      ,,carlo        
,,dolci4               ,,george ,,hay4  
,,gainsborough4              ,,max      
,,rothschild4      ,,tintoretto4        

,s4 ,l4 ,,bensusan4      ,,luini4       
,,james ,,mason4      ,,franz ,,hals4   
,,edgcumbe ,,staley4      ,,van ,,dyck4 
,,percy ,m4 ,,turner4      ,,leonardo   
,,da ,,vinci4         ,m4 ,w4           
,,brockwell4      ,,rubens4             
,s4 ,l4 ,,bensusan4      ,,whistler4    
,t4 ,,martin ,,wood4      ,,holbein4    
,s4 ,l4 ,,bensusan4                     
,,burne-,,jones4               ,a4 ,,lys
 ,,baldry4      ,,vig,e ,,le ,,brun4    
,c4 ,,haldane ,,macfall4      ,j4 ,f4   
,,millet4              ,,percy ,m4      
,,turner4      ,,chardin4               
,,paul ,g4 ,,konody4    ,in ,preparation
        ,,memlinc4                   ,w4
 ,h4 ,,james ,,weale4      ,,albert     
,d,,rer4              ,,herbert ,,furst4
      ,,fragonard4                 ,c4  
,,haldane ,,macfall4      ,,constable4  
,c4 ,,lewis ,,hind4      ,,raeburn4     
,,james ,l4 ,,caw4      ,,boucher4      
,c4 ,,haldane ,,macfall4      ,,watteau4
                   ,c4 ,,lewis ,,hind4  
,,murillo4                   ,s4 ,l4    

,,bensusan4      ,,john ,s4 ,,sargent1  
,r4,a4      ,t4 ,,martin ,,wood4        
,,and ,,others4      ,illustration3     
,,plate ,i4--,,still-,,life4            
7,frontispiece7    7,in the ,louvre7    
,this ,still-,life1 which is among the  
fine array of ,chardin's pictures  at   
the ,louvre1 affords a striking         
illustration of the master's supreme    
skill in rendering the surface          
qualities1 textures1 plastic properties1
  and mutual colour relations of the    
most varied objects and substances1     
such as porcelain1 metals1 linen1       
foodstuffs1 wood1 and so forth4 ,the    
composition is somewhat overcrowded1 and
 lacks the sense of order in the        
apparent disorder1 that is so typical of
 ,chardin's still-life  arrangements4   
,,chardin        ,,by ,,paul ,g4        
,,konody        ,,illustrated ,,with    
,,eight      ,,reproductions ,,in       
,,colour        ,illustration3 ,,in     
,,sempiternum4        ,,london3 ,t4 ,c4 
,e4 ,c4 ,,jack      ,,new ,,york3       

,,frederick ,a4 ,,stokes ,,co4          
,,contents                              
,page        ,i4                        
#i         ,,ii4                        
#cf        ,,iii4                       
#df          ,,list ,,of ,,illustrations
          ,plate         ,i4            
,still-,life                            
,frontispiece                ,in the    
,louvre                                 
,page        ,,ii4 ,la ,fontaine1 or the
 ,woman ,drawing ,water                 
#ad                ,in the ,national    
,gallery1 ,london         ,,iii4        
,l',enfant au ,toton1 or the ,child with
 the ,top               #bd             
,in the ,louvre          ,,iv4 ,le      
,bndicit1 or ,grace before ,meat        
#cd                ,in the ,hermitage   
,collection at ,st4 ,petersburg         
,v4 ,la ,gouvernante1 or ,mother and    
,son                          #dj       
,in the ,collection of ,prince          
,liechtenstein in ,vienna          ,,vi4
 ,la ,mre ,laborieuse                   

#ej                ,in the ,stockholm   
,museum         ,,vii4 ,le ,panneau de  
,pches1 or the ,basket of ,peaches      
#fj                ,in the ,louvre      
,,viii4 ,la ,pourvoyeuse                
#gj                ,in the ,louvre      
,illustration          ,i               
,jean-,baptiste ,simon ,chardin occupies
 a curious position among the  artists  
of his time and country4 ,his art which1
 neglected and despised  for many       
decades after his death1 is now admitted
 by those best  competent to judge to be
 supreme as regards technical           
excellence1 and1  within the narrow     
limits of its subject matter1 to possess
 merits of far  greater significance    
than are to be found in the work of any 
,frenchman1  save ,watteau1 from the    
founding of the school of ,fontainebleau
 to modern  days1 is apt to be regarded 
as an isolated phenomenon1 un-,french1  
out of  touch1 and out of sympathy with 
the expression of the artistic genius of
  eighteenth-century ,france4 ,a grave  

misconception of the true inwardness  of
 things6 ,rather should it be said that 
,chardin was the one typically  ,french 
painter among a vast crowd of more or   
less close followers of a  tradition    
imported from ,italy2 the one painter of
 the actual life of his  people among   
the artificial caterers for an          
artificial and often  depraved and      
lascivious taste2 a man of the people1  
of the vast  multitude formed by a      
homely1 simple bourgeoisie2 painting for
 the  people the subjects that appealed 
to the people4    ,in order to          
understand the position of ,chardin in  
the art of his country  it is necessary 
to bear in mind that the autochthonous  
painting of  ,france1 the real          
expression of ,french genius1 was from  
its early  beginnings closely connected 
with the art of the ,north1 and not with
  that of ,italy4 ,the style of the     
early ,french miniaturists of the       
,burgundian ,school1 of ,fouquet and of 
,clouet1 is the style of the ,north2    

their art is interwoven with the art of 
,flanders4 ,when in the time of         
,franois ,i4 the ,school of             
,fontainebleau1 headed by ,primaticcio  
and  ,rosso1 promulgated the gospel that
 artistic salvation could only be  found
 in the emulation of ,raphael and the   
masters of the late ,italian            
,renaissance1 and of the ,bolognese     
eclectics2 when finally degenerated     
painters like ,albani were held up as   
example1 official art became  altogether
 ,italianised and stereotyped2 and the  
climax was reached with  the foundation 
of the ,school of ,rome by ,louis ,,xiv4
 ,but1 though  officially neglected and 
looked upon with disfavour1 the national
  element was not to be altogether      
crushed by the foreign importation4     
,poussin remained ,french in spite of   
,italian training1 and held aloof  from 
the coterie of ,court painters4 ,jacques
 ,callot carried on the  national       
tradition1 though as a satirist and     
etcher of scenes from  contemporary     

life1 rather than as a painter4 ,and the
 ,netherlands  continued directly or    
indirectly to stir up the sluggish      
stream of  national ,french             
art--directly through ,watteau1 who1    
born a ,netherlander1  became the most  
typically ,french of all ,french        
painters2 indirectly1  half a century   
earlier1 through the brothers ,le ,nain1
 who drew their  subjects and           
inspiration from the ,north and their   
sombre colour from  ,spain2 and         
afterwards through ,chardin1 whose style
 was so closely akin  to that of the    
,flemings that1 when he first submitted 
some pieces of  still-life to the       
members of the ,academy1 ,largillire    
himself took them  to be the work of    
some excellent unknown ,flemish painter4
    ,what are the qualities that raise  
,chardin's art so high above the showy  
productions of the ,french painters of  
his generation1 placing him on  a       
pedestal by himself1 and gaining for him
 the respect1 the admiration1  the love 

of all artists and discerning art       
lovers8 ,why should this  painter of    
still-life and of small unpretentious   
domestic genre pieces  be extolled      
without reservation and ranked among the
 world's greatest  masters8             
,illustration3 ,,plate ,,ii4--,,la      
,,fontaine 7,,the ,,woman ,,drawing     
,,water7    7,in the ,national ,gallery1
 ,london7    ,la ,fontaine1 or the      
,woman ,drawing ,water1 is one of the   
two examples  of ,chardin's art in the  
,national ,gallery4 ,it is the subject  
of which  probably most versions are in 
existence1 and figured among the eight  
pictures sent by the master to the      
,salon of #agcg1 the first exhibition   
held since #agjd1 and the first in which
 ,chardin appeared as a painter of      
genre pictures4 ,the original version1  
which bears the date #agcc1 is at  the  
,stockholm ,museum1 and other replicas  
belong to ,sir ,frederick ,cook in      
,richmond1 ,m4 ,marcille in ,paris1     
,baron ,schwiter1 and to the ,louvre4   

,the  picture was engraved by ,cochin4  
,the question finds its simplest        
solution in the fact that all great and 
lasting art must be based on the study  
of ,nature and of contemporary  life2   
that erudition and the imitation of the 
virtues of painters that  belong to a   
dead period never result in permanent   
appeal1 especially if  they find        
expression in the repetition of         
mythological and allegorical  formulas  
which belong to the past1 and have long 
ceased to be a living  language4        
,chardin's art is living and sincere1   
with never a trace of  affectation4 ,in 
his paintings the most unpromising      
material1 the most  prosaic objects on a
 humble kitchen table1 the uneventful   
daily routine  of lower middle-class    
life1 are rendered interesting by the   
warming  flame of human sympathy which  
moved the master to spend his supreme   
skill upon them2 by the human interest  
with which he knew how to invest  even  
inanimate objects4 ,no painter knew like

 ,chardin how to express in  terms of   
paint the substance and surface and     
texture of the most varied  objects2 few
 have ever equalled him in the faultless
 precision of his  colour values2 fewer 
still have carried the study of         
reflections to so  fine a point1 and    
observed with such accuracy the most    
subtle nuances of  the changes wrought  
in the colour appearance of one object  
by the  proximity of another--but these 
are qualities that only an artist can   
fully appreciate1 and that can only be  
vaguely felt by the layman4 ,they       
belong to the sphere of technique4 ,the 
strong appeal of ,chardin's  still-life 
is due to the manner in which he invests
 inanimate objects  with living         
interest1 with a sense of intimacy that 
enlists our sympathy  for the humble    
folk with whose existence these objects 
are connected1  and who1 by mere        
accident as it were1 just happen to be  
without the  frame of the picture4      
,perhaps they have just left the room1  

but the  atmosphere is still filled with
 their presence4    ,if ever there was a
 painter to whom the old saying celare  
artem est  summa ars is applicable1     
surely it was ,chardin6 ,a slow1        
meticulously  careful worker1 who       
bestowed no end of time and trouble upon
 every  canvas1 and whom nothing but    
perfection would satisfy1 he never      
attempted to gain applause by a display 
of cleverness or by technical           
fireworks4 ,the perfection of the result
 conceals the labour expended  upon it  
and the art by means of which it is     
achieved4 ,and so it is with  the       
composition4 ,his still-life            
arrangements1 where everything is       
deliberate selection1 have an appearance
 of accidental grouping as  though the  
artist1 fascinated by the colour of some
 viands and utensils  on a kitchen      
table1 had yielded to an irresistible   
impulse1 and  forthwith painted the     
things just as they offered themselves  
to his  delighted vision4 ,how different

 it all is to the conception of         
still-life of his compatriots of the    
grand century and even of his own  time6
 ,it was a sad misconception of the     
function and range of art that  made the
 seventeenth century draw the           
distinction between noble and  ignoble  
subjects4 ,when they stooped to         
still-life it had to be  ennobled--that 
is to say1 precious stuffs1 elegant     
furniture1 bronzes  and gold or silver  
goblets1 choice specimens of hot-house  
flowers1 and  such like material were   
piled up in what was considered         
picturesque  abundance--and the whole   
thing was as theatrical and tasteless   
and  sham-heroic as a portrait by       
,lebrun1 the ,court favourite4 ,even the
 ,dutch  and ,flemish still-life        
painters of the period1 who had a far   
keener  appreciation of ,nature1 catered
 for the taste that preferred the       
display  of riches to simple truth4     
,their flowers and fruit were carefully 
chosen  faultless specimens1 accompanied

 generally by costly objects and stuffs2
  and on the whole these large          
decorative pieces were painted with     
wonderful accuracy in the rendering of  
each individual blossom or other        
detail1 but with utter disregard of     
atmosphere4 ,it has been rightly said   
that these ,netherlanders gave the same 
kind of attention to every  object1     
whilst ,chardin bestowed upon the       
component parts of his  still-life      
compositions not the same kind1 but the 
same degree of  attention4 ,and above   
all1 whilst suggesting the texture and  
volume and  material of each individual 
object with faultless accuracy1 ,chardin
  never lost sight of the ensemble--that
 is to say1 the opposition of  values1  
the interchange that takes place between
 the colours of two  different objects  
placed in close proximity1 the          
reflections which  appear not only where
 they would naturally be expected1 as on
 shiny  copper or other metals1 but even
 those on comparatively dull surfaces1  

which would probably escape the         
attention of the untrained eye4 ,chardin
  looked upon everything with a true    
painter's vision2 and his brush         
expressed not his knowledge of the form 
of things1 but the visual  impression   
produced by their ensemble4 ,he did not 
think in outline1 but  in colour4 ,if   
proof were needed1 it will be found in  
the extreme  scarcity of sketches and   
drawings from his hand4 ,only very few  
sketches  by ,chardin are known1 and    
these few proclaim the painter rather   
than the  draughtsman4    ,still1 having
 pointed out the gulf that divides our  
master from the  still-life painters of 
the grand sicle1 it is only right to add
 that  he did not burst upon the world  
as an isolated phenomenon1 and that     
painters like ,desportes and ,oudry form
 the bridge from ,monnoyer1 the  best   
known of the ,french seventeenth-century
 compilers of showy  monumental         
still-life1 to ,chardin4 ,monnoyer      
belongs to a time that knew  neither    

respect nor genuine love for ,nature and
 her laws4 ,he simply  followed the     
rules of the grand style1 and had no eye
 for the play of  reflections and the   
other problems1 which are the delight of
 the  moderns--and ,chardin is          
essentially modern4 ,monnoyer's son     
,baptiste1 and  his son-in-law ,belin de
 ,fontenay did not depart from his      
artificial  manner4 ,but with ,oudry1 in
 spite of much that is still traditional
 in  his art1 we arrive already at a new
 conception of still-life painting4  ,in
 a paper read by this artist to the     
,academy he relates how1 in his  student
 days1 when asked by ,largillire to     
paint some flowers1 he placed  a        
carefully chosen1 gaily coloured bouquet
 in a vase1 when his master  stopped him
 and said3 ,i have set you this task to 
train you for colour4  ,do you think the
 choice you have made will do for the   
purpose8 ,get a  bunch of flowers all   
white4 ,oudry did as he was bid1 and was
 then told  to observe that the flowers 

are brown on the shadow side1 that on a 
light ground they appear in half tones1 
and that the whitest of them are  darker
 than absolute white4 ,largillire then  
pointed out to him the  action of       
reflections1 and made him paint by the  
side of the flowers  various white      
objects of different value for          
comparison4 ,oudry was not  a little    
surprised at discovering that the       
flowers consisted of an  accumulation of
 broken tones1 and were given form and  
relief by the  magic of shadows4 ,both  
,oudry and ,desportes did not consider  
common  objects unworthy of their       
attention1 and in this way led up to the
 type  of work in which ,chardin        
afterwards achieved his triumphs4       
,illustration3 ,,plate                  
,,iii4--,l',,enfant ,,au ,,toton 7,,the 
,,child ,,with ,,the ,,top7    7,in the 
,louvre7    ,l',enfant au ,toton 7,the  
,child with the ,top7 is the portrait of
  ,auguste ,gabriel ,godefroy1 son of   
the jeweller ,godefroy1 and is the      

companion picture to the ,young ,man    
with the ,violin1 which represents  the 
child's elder brother ,charles4 ,the two
 pictures were bought in #aijg  for the 
,louvre1 at the high price of #cej1jjj  
francs4 ,l',enfant au ,toton  was first 
exhibited at the ,salon of #agch1 and   
was engraved by ,lpici in  #agdb4 ,a    
replica of the picture was in the       
collection of the late ,m4  ,groult4 ,it
 is one of ,chardin's most delightful   
presentments of innocent  childish      
amusement1 and illustrates at the same  
time the master's  supreme skill in the 
painting of still-life4    ,chardin's   
still-life pictures never appear to be  
grouped to form  balanced arrangements  
of line and colour4 ,the manner how the 
objects are  seen in the accidental     
position in which they were left by the 
hands  that used them holds more than a 
suggestion of genre painting4 ,indeed1  
it may be said that all ,chardin's      
still-life partakes of genre as much  as
 his genre partakes of still-life4 ,a   

loaf of bread1 a knife1 and a  black    
bottle on a crumpled piece of paper2 a  
basket1 a few eggs1 and a  copper pot1  
and such like material1 suffice for him 
to create so vivid a  picture of simple 
home life1 that only the presence of the
 housewife  or serving-maid is needed to
 raise the painting into the sphere of  
domestic genre4 ,sometimes this scarcely
 needed touch of actual life is  given  
by the introduction of some domestic    
animal2 and in these cases we  already  
find a hint of that unity of conception 
which in ,chardin's genre  pieces links 
the living creature to the surrounding  
inanimate objects4  ,take the famous    
,skate at the ,louvre4 ,on a table you  
see an earthen  pot1 a saucepan1 a      
kettle1 and a knife1 grouped in         
accidental disorder  on a negligently   
spread white napkin on the right2 on the
 left are some  fish and oysters and    
leeks1 and from the wall behind is      
suspended a huge  skate4 ,a cat is      
carefully feeling its way among the     

oyster-shells1  deeply interested in the
 various victuals which it eyes with    
eager  longing4 ,even more pronounced is
 this attitude of interest in ,baron    
,henri de ,rothschild's ,chat aux       
,aguets4 ,here a crouching cat1 half    
puzzled1 half excited1 is seen in the   
extreme left corner1 crouching in       
readiness to spring at a dead hare that 
is lying between a partridge and  a     
magnificent silver tureen1 and is       
obviously the object of the feline's    
hesitating attention4    ,it is this    
complete absorption of the protagonists 
of ,chardin's  genre scenes in their    
occupations or thoughts that fills his  
work  with such profound human interest4
 ,chardin is never anecdotal1 never     
sentimental--in this respect1 as well as
 in the solidity of his  technique1 and 
in his scientific search for colour     
values and  atmosphere1 he is vastly    
superior to ,greuze1 whose genre scenes 
are  never free from literary flavour   
and from a certain kind of affectation4 

,nor does ,chardin ever fancy himself in
 the rle of the moralist like our  own  
,hogarth1 with whom he has otherwise so 
much in common4 ,he looks upon  his     
simple fellow-creatures with a          
sympathetic eye1 watching them in the   
pursuit of their daily avocation1 the   
women conscientiously following  the    
routine of their housework or tenderly  
occupied with the education  of their   
children1 the children themselves intent
 upon work or  play--never posing for   
artistic effect1 but wholly oblivious of
 the  painter's watching eye4 ,chardin  
was by no means the first of his        
country's masters to devote himself to  
contemporary life4 ,just as ,oudry  took
 the first hesitating steps towards the 
,chardinesque conception of  still-life1
 so ,jean ,raoux busied himself in the  
closing days of the  seventeenth century
 with creating records of scenes taken  
from the daily  life of the people1 but 
he never rid himself of the sugary      
affected  manner that was the taste of  

his time4 ,it was left to ,chardin to   
introduce into the art of genre painting
 in ,france the sense of  intimacy1 the 
homogeneous vision1 the atmosphere of   
reality which we  find in such          
masterpieces as the ,grace before ,meat1
 ,the ,reading  ,lesson1 ,the           
,governess1 ,the ,convalescent's ,meal1 
,the ,card ,castle1  the ,rcureuse1 the 
,pourvoyeuse1 and the famous ,child with
 the ,top1  which1 after having changed 
hands in #ahde1 at the time when        
,chardin was  held in slight esteem1 for
 less than #be1 was recently bought for 
the  ,louvre1 together with the         
companion portrait of ,charles          
,godefroy1 ,the  ,young ,man with the   
,violin1 for the enormous price of      
#ad1jjj4    ,in the case of each of     
these pictures the first thing that     
strikes your  attention is the complete 
absorption of the personages in their   
occupation4 ,in the picture of the boy  
building the card castle you can        
literally see him drawing in his breath 

for fear of upsetting the  fragile      
structure which he is erecting4 ,you    
imagine you can hear the  sigh of relief
 with which the ,pourvoyeuse--the woman 
returning from  market--deposits her    
heavy load of bread on the dresser1     
whilst the  sudden release of the weight
 that had been supported by her left arm
  seems to increase the strain on her   
right4 ,how admirable is the  expression
 of keen attention on the puckered brow 
of the child who in  ,the ,reading      
,lesson tries to follow with plump      
finger the line  indicated by the       
school-mistress2 or the solicitude of   
the governess  who1 whilst addressing   
some final words of advice or admonition
 to the  neatly dressed boy about to    
depart for school1 has just for the     
moment  ceased brushing his             
three-cornered hat4 ,there is no need to
 give further  instances4 ,in all       
,chardin's subject pictures he opens a  
door upon the  home life of the simple  
bourgeoisie to which he himself belonged

 by  birth and character1 and allows you
 to watch from some safe hiding-place   
the doings of these good folk who are   
utterly unaware of your presence4       
,having devoted his early years to      
still-life1 and his prime to domestic   
genre1 ,chardin lived long enough to    
weary his public and critics1 and to    
find himself in the position of a fallen
 favourite4 ,but though his  eyesight   
had become affected1 and his hands had  
lost the sureness of  their touch1 so   
that he had practically to give up      
oil-painting1 he  entered in his last   
years upon a short career of glorious   
achievement  in an entirely new         
sphere--he devoted himself to           
portraiture in pastel1  and gained once 
more the enthusiastic applause of the   
people1 even  though the critics        
continued to exercise their severe and  
prejudiced  judgment1 and to blame him  
for that very verve and violence of     
technique  which later received the     
,goncourt brothers' unstinted praise4   

,what  surprising images4 ,what violent 
and inspired work2 what scrumbling and  
modelling2 what rapid strokes and       
scratches6 ,his pastel portraits of     
himself and of his second wife1 and his 
magnificent head of a jockey  have the  
richness and plastic life of            
oil-paintings1 and have indeed  more    
boldness and virility than the work even
 of the most renowned of  all ,french   
pastellists1 ,la ,tour4 ,in view of     
their freshness and vigour1  it is      
difficult to realise that they are the  
work of a suffering  septuagenarian4    
,the mention of the hostility shown by  
,chardin's contemporary critics  towards
 the system of juxtaposing touches of   
different colour in his  pastels1 opens 
up a very interesting question with     
regard to the  master's technique of    
oil-painting and of the                 
eighteenth-century  critics' attitude   
towards it4 ,there is no need to dwell  
upon the comment  of a man like         
,mariette1 who discovers in ,chardin's  

paintings the signs  of too much labour1
 and deplores the heavy monotonous      
touch1 the lack  of ease in the         
brushwork1 and the coldness of his      
work--the coldness  of the master who1  
alone among all the painters of his time
 and country1  knew how to fill his     
canvases with a luscious warm           
atmosphere1 and to  blend his tones in  
the mellowest of harmonies6 ,his colour 
is not true  enough1 runs another of    
,mariette's comments4    ,illustration3 
,,plate ,,iv4--,,le ,b,n,,dicit 7,,grace
 ,,before ,,meat7    7,in the ,louvre7  
,le ,bndicit1 or ,grace before ,meat1 is
 perhaps the most popular and  best     
known of all ,chardin's domestic genre  
pieces4 ,it combines the  highest       
technical and artistic qualities with a 
touching simplicity of  sentiment that  
must endear it even to those who cannot 
appreciate its  artistry4 ,several      
replicas of it are known1 but the       
original is probably  the version in the
 ,hermitage ,collection at ,st4         

,petersburg4 ,the ,louvre  owns two     
examples--one from the collection of    
,louis ,,xv41 another from  the ,la     
,caze ,collection4 ,this latter version 
appeared three times in the  ,paris     
sale-rooms1 the last time in #ahgf1 when
 it realised the sum of  #bj6 ,another  
authentic replica is in the ,marcille   
,collection1 and yet  another at        
,stockholm4    ,let us now listen to    
,diderot1 though in fairness it should  
be stated  that the remarks which follow
 refer to ,chardin's later work between 
#agfa  and #agfg4 ,first of all he is   
set down as ever a faithful imitator of 
,nature in his own manner1 which is rude
 and abrupt--a nature low1  common1 and 
domestic4 ,a strange pronouncement on   
the part of the same  ill-balanced      
critic who1 four years later1 condemned 
,boucher because in  all this numberless
 family you will not find one employed  
in a real act  of life1 studying his    
lesson1 reading1 writing1 stripping     
hemp4 ,thus  ,chardin's vice is turned  

into virtue when it is a question of    
abusing a  master who avoided the low1  
common1 and domestic4 ,in his topical   
criticism on the ,salon of #agfa        
,diderot tells us of ,chardin1 that it  
is  long since he has finished anything2
 that he shirks trouble1 and works  like
 a man of the world who is endowed with 
talent and skill4 ,in #agfe  ,diderot   
utters the following curious statement3 
,chardin's technique is  strange4 ,when 
you are near you cannot distinguish     
anything2 but as you  step back the     
objects take form and begin to be real  
nature4 ,on a later  occasion he        
describes ,chardin's style as a harsh   
method of painting  with the thumb as   
much as with the brush2 a juxtaposition 
of touches1 a  confused and sparkling   
accumulation of pasty and rich colours4 
,diderot is borne out by ,bachaumont who
 at the same period writes3  ,his method
 is irregular4 ,he places his colours   
one after the other1  almost without    
mixing1 so that his work bears a certain

 resemblance to  mosaic1 or point carr  
needlework4 ,this description1 given by 
two  independent contemporaries1 almost 
suggests the technique of the modern    
impressionists and pointillists2 and if 
the present appearance of  ,chardin's   
paintings scarcely tallies with         
,diderot's and ,bachaumont's            
explanation1 it should not be forgotten 
that a century and a half have  passed  
over these erstwhile rude and violent   
mosaics of colour  touches1 and that    
this stretch of time is quite sufficient
 to allow the  colours to re-act upon   
each other--in a chemical sense1 to     
permeate each  other1 to fuse and blend1
 and to form a mellow1 warm1 harmonious 
surface  that shows no trace of harsh   
and abrupt touches4 ,thus it would      
appear  that ,chardin discounted the    
effects of time and worked for          
posterity4  ,in one of his rare happy   
moments ,diderot realised this fact1 and
 took up  the cudgels for our master4   
,in his critique of the #agfg ,salon he 

explains that ,chardin sees his works   
twelve years hence2 and those who       
condemn him are as wrong as those young 
artists who copy servilely at  ,rome the
 pictures painted #aej years ago4       
,,ii      ,chardin's physical           
appearance1 such as we find it in       
authentic  portraits1 his character1 as 
it is revealed to us by his words and   
his  actions1 and the whole quiet and   
comparatively uneventful course of his  
life1 are in most absolute harmony with 
his art4 ,indeed1 ,chardin's            
personality might1 with a little        
imagination1 be reconstructed from his  
pictures4 ,he was a bourgeois to the    
finger-tips--a righteous1  kind-hearted1
 hard-working man who never knew the    
consuming fire of a  great passion1 and 
who was apparently free from the        
vagaries1  inconsistencies1 and         
irregularities usually associated with  
the artistic  temperament4 ,though never
 overburdened with the weight of worldly
  possessions1 he was never in real     

poverty1 never felt the pangs of        
hunger4 ,he had as good an education as 
his father's humble condition  would    
permit1 and his choice of a career not  
only met with no  opposition1 but was   
warmly encouraged4 ,in his profession he
 rose slowly  and gradually to high     
honour1 and never experienced serious   
rebuffs or  checks4 ,his disposition was
 not of the kind to kindle enmity or    
even  jealousy4 ,his early affection for
 the girl who was to become his first   
wife was faithful1 but not of the kind  
to prompt him to hasty action--he       
waited until his financial position     
enabled him to keep a modest home1  and 
then he married4 ,he married a second   
time1 nine years after his  first wife's
 death1 and this time his choice fell   
upon a widow with a  small fortune1 a   
practical shrewd woman1 who was of no   
little help to  him in the management of
 his affairs4 ,it was not exactly a love
 match1  but the two simple people      
suited each other1 were of the same     

social  position1 and in similar        
comfortable circumstances1 and managed  
to live  peacefully and contentedly in  
modest bourgeois fashion4    ,how dull1 
how bald1 how negative the smooth course
 of this life of  virtue and honest     
labour seems1 contrasted with the       
eventful1 stormy1  passionate life of a 
,boucher or a ,fragonard who were in the
 stream of  fashion1 and adopted the    
manner and licentiousness and vices of  
their  courtly patrons4 ,there is never 
an immodest thought1 never a piquant    
suggestion in ,chardin's paintings4     
,they reflect his own life2 perhaps     
they represent the very surroundings in 
which he spent his busy days1  for we   
find in their sequence the clear        
indication of growing prosperity  from a
 condition which verges on              
poverty--respectable1 not sordid1       
poverty--to comparative luxury2 from    
drudgery in kitchen and courtyard  to   
tea in the cosy parlour4 ,there can be  
but little doubt that many  a time the  

master's brush was devoted to the       
recording of his own home1  his own     
family1 the even tenor of his life4     
,illustration3 ,,plate ,v4--,,la        
,,gouvernante 7,,mother ,,and ,,son7    
7,in the collection of ,prince          
,liechtenstein in ,vienna7    ,la       
,gouvernante1 or ,mother and ,son1 is   
one of the most attractive of  the many 
,chardin pictures in the collection of  
,prince ,liechtenstein in  ,vienna4     
,observe the perfectly natural attitude 
of the woman and the  child1 in which   
there is not the slightest hint of      
posing for the  artist4 ,like all       
,chardin's genre pictures1 it is1 as it 
were1 a glimpse  of real life4 ,this    
picture and its companion ,la ,mre      
,laborieuse  figured at the sale of     
,chardin's works after his death1 when  
his art  received such scant            
appreciation that the pair only realised
 #cj livres #d  sous6    ,the man's     
character--and more than that1 his      
milieu--are expressed in  no uncertain  

fashion in his three auto-portraits1 two
 of which are at  the ,louvre1 and one  
in the ,collection of ,m4 ,lon          
,michel-,lvy4 ,a good1  kind-hearted1   
simple-minded man he appears in these   
pastel portraits1  which all date from  
the last years of his life1 a man       
incapable of  wickedness or meanness1   
and endowed with a keen sense of humour 
that  lingers about the corners of his  
mouth4 ,it is a face that immediately   
enlists sympathy by its obvious         
readiness for sympathy with others4 ,and
  so convincing are these portraits in  
their straightforward bold  statement1  
that they may be accepted as documentary
 testimony to the  man's character1 even
 if we had not the evidence of          
,fragonard's much  earlier portrait of  
,chardin1 which was until recently in   
the ,rodolphe  ,kann ,collection1 and is
 at present in the possession of        
,messrs4 ,duveen  ,bros4 ,with the      
exception of such differences as may be 
accounted for by  the differences of    

age1 all these portraits tally to a     
remarkable  degree4 ,the features are   
the same1 and the expression is         
identical--the  same keen1 penetrating  
eyes1 which even in his declining years 
have lost  none of their searching      
intelligence1 even though they have to  
be aided  by round horn-rimmed          
spectacles2 the same revelation of a    
lovable  nature1 even though in ,m4     
,michel-,lvy's version worry and        
suffering have  left their traces on the
 features4 ,he is the embodiment of     
decent  middle-class respectability4    
,decency and a high sense of honour     
marked  every act of his life1 and      
decency had to be kept up in external   
appearances4 ,on his very deathbed1 when
 he was tortured by the pangs of  one of
 the most terrible of diseases1 dropsy  
having set in upon stone1  he still     
insisted upon his daily shave6    ,yet  
,chardin1 the bourgeois incarnate1 was  
anything but a ,philistine4  ,from this 
he was saved by his life-long devotion  

to1 and his ardent  enthusiasm for1 his 
art4 ,he was not given to bursts of the 
theatrical  eloquence that is so dear to
 the men of his race2 but the scanty    
records  we have of his sayings testify 
to the humble1 profound respect in which
  he held the art of painting4 ,art is  
an island of which ,i have only  skirted
 the coast-line1 runs the often quoted  
phrase to which he gave  utterance at a 
time when he had attained to his highest
 achievement4 ,to  an artist who talked 
to him about his method of improving the
 colours1  he replied in characteristic 
fashion3 ,and who has told you1 sir1    
that  one paints with colours8 ,with    
what then8 questioned his perplexed     
interviewer4 ,one uses colours1 but one 
paints with feeling4    ,brilliant      
technician as he was1 and admirable     
critic of his own and  other artists'   
work1 ,chardin lacked the gift to       
communicate his  knowledge to others4   
,he was a bad teacher--he was a wretched
 teacher4  ,even such pliable material  

as ,fragonard's genius yielded no       
results to  his honest efforts4 ,it was 
,boucher who1 at the height of his vogue
 and  overburdened with commissions that
 did not allow him the time to devote   
himself to the nursing of a raw talent1 
recommended ,fragonard to work in       
,chardin's studio2 but six months'      
teaching by the master failed to bring  
out the pupil's brilliant gifts4        
,chardin knew not how to impart his     
marvellous technique to young           
,fragonard1 and ,fragonard returned to  
,boucher without having appreciably     
benefited by ,chardin's instruction4    
,the master had no better luck with his 
own son1 though in this case the        
failure was due rather to lack of talent
 than to bad teaching1 for ,van  ,loo   
and ,natoire were equally unsuccessful  
in their efforts to develop  the        
unfortunate young man's feeble gifts4   
,there is a touch of deepest  pathos in 
the reference made by ,chardin to his   
son at the close of an  address to his  

,academic colleagues in #agfe3          
,gentlemen1 gentlemen1 be  indulgent6   
,he who has not felt the difficulty of  
art does nothing that  counts2 he who1  
like my son1 has felt it too much1 does 
nothing at all4  ,farewell1 gentlemen1  
and be indulgent1 be indulgent6         
,chardin had no artistic progeny to     
carry on his tradition1 partly1         
perhaps1 because he failed as a teacher1
 more probably because the  ,revolution 
and the ,empire were close at hand when 
he died1 and because  the social        
upheavals led to new ideals and to an   
art that was based on  an altogether    
different sthetic code4 ,the star of    
,david rose when  ,chardin's gave its   
last flickers2 and ,chardin himself was 
among the  commissioners who signed on  
the #ajth of ,january #aggh the highly  
laudatory report on ,david's large      
battle sketch sent to ,paris by the     
,director of the ,school of ,rome4 ,yet 
who would venture to-day to mention  the
 two in the same breath4 ,david has     

fallen into well-deserved  oblivion1 and
 the example of ,chardin's glorious     
paintings has done what  was beyond the 
master's own power--it has created a    
,school that is daily  enlisting an     
increasing number of highly gifted      
followers4 ,chardin's  name is honoured 
and revered in every modern painter's   
studio4          ,,iii                  
,jean-,baptiste ,simon ,chardin was born
 in ,paris on ,november #b1 #afii1 the  
second son of ,jean ,chardin1           
cabinetmaker1 or to be more strict1     
billiard-table maker1 a hard-working man
 who rose to be syndic of his           
corporation1 but who1 the father of a   
family of five1 was fortunately  not    
sufficiently prosperous to give his son 
a literary education4 ,i say            
fortunately1 because it was probably his
 ignorance of mythology and  classic    
lore that made ,chardin1 who often      
bitterly regretted his  educational     
deficiencies1 turn his attention to     
those subjects which  required a keenly 

observing eye and a sure hand1 and not a
 fertile  imagination stimulated by     
book-knowledge4 ,his lack of education  
saved  ,chardin from allegorical and    
mythological clap-trap1 and made him the
  great painter of the visible world of 
his time4 ,though ,jean ,chardin  wanted
 his son to take up his own profession1 
he was quick in  recognising and        
encouraging the boy's early talent1 and 
finally made him  enter the ,atelier of 
,pierre ,jacques ,cazes where ,simon    
received his  first systematic training4
 ,cazes was a capable enough painter in 
the  traditional grand manner of ,le    
,brun1 which had been taught to him by  
,bon  ,boullogne4 ,he had taken the     
,prix de ,rome1 and issued victorious   
from  several other competitions1 but1  
like ,rigaud and ,largillire and several
  other distinguished painters of the   
period1 never availed himself of the    
privilege entailed by the award of the  
,prix de ,rome4 ,indeed1 he was not  a  
little proud of this fact1 as he showed 

by his reply to ,crozat who             
commiserated with him for having never  
seen the ,italian masterpieces--,i  have
 proved that one can do without them4   
,yet whatever merit there may  have been
 in ,cazes' work1 and whatever may have 
been his own opinion on  this subject1  
prosperity came not his way2 and        
although he was appointed  ,professor at
 the ,academy1 and rose to great        
popularity as a teacher1 he  remained so
 poor that he could not afford to       
provide his pupils with  living models4 
,they had to learn what they could from 
copying their  master's compositions and
 studies4    ,the copying of designs1   
based on literary conceptions and       
knowledge of  the classics1 could not   
possibly be either beneficial or        
attractive for  a youth who lacked the  
education needed for understanding these
  subjects1 and who was1 moreover1      
deeply interested in the life that came 
under his personal observation4 ,the    
tasks set to him by ,cazes must have    

appeared to ,chardin like the drudgery  
of acquiring proficiency in a           
hieroglyphic language that conveyed no  
definite meaning to him4 ,still1        
,chardin made such progress under his   
first master that ,nol ,nicolas  ,coypel
 engaged him as assistant to paint the  
details in some  decorative over-door   
panels representing the ,seasons and the
 ,pleasures  of the ,chase4             
,illustration3 ,,plate ,,vi4--,,la      
,m,,re ,,laborieuse    7,in the         
,stockholm ,museum7    ,la ,mre         
,laborieuse1 which is the companion     
picture to ,la  ,gouvernante1 was first 
exhibited at the ,salon of #agde1 where 
it  attracted the attention of ,count   
,tessin1 who immediately commissioned   
the replica which is now at the         
,stockholm ,museum4 ,the picture was    
engraved by ,lpici in the same year in  
which it was first exhibited4    ,in    
,coypel ,chardin found a master of very 
different calibre--a teacher  after his 
own heart4 ,the systematised knowledge  

of the principles  adopted by the late  
,bolognese masters1 rules of composition
 and of the  distribution of light and  
shade1 were certainly of little use to  
him  when1 on beginning his work in     
,coypel's studio1 he was set the task of
  painting a gun in the hand of a       
sportsman4 ,chardin was amazed at the   
trouble taken by his employer1 and at   
the amount of thought expended by  him  
upon the placing and lighting of the    
object4 ,the painting of this  gun was  
,chardin's first valuable lesson4 ,he   
was made to realise the  importance of a
 comparatively insignificant accessory4 
,he was shown how  its position would   
affect the rhythm of the design4 ,he was
 taught to  paint with minute accuracy  
whatever his eye beheld4 ,he was told1  
perhaps for the first time1 that it was 
not enough to paint a  hieroglyphic that
 will be recognised to represent a gun1 
but that the  paint should express the  
true appearance of the object1 its      
plastic  form1 its surface1 the texture 

of the material1 the play of light and  
shade and reflections4 ,the lesson of   
this gun gave the death blow to         
traditional recipes1 and laid the       
foundation of ,chardin's art4           
,chardin did well under the new tuition1
 so well that ,jean-,baptiste ,van  ,loo
 engaged him to help in the restoration 
of some paintings in the  gallery of    
,fontainebleau4 ,it must have been a    
formidable task1 since not  only        
,chardin1 but ,j4 ,b4 ,van ,loo's       
younger brother ,charles and some       
,academy students were made to join the 
master's staff4 ,five francs a day  and 
an excellent dinner on the completion of
 the work were the wages for  the job   
which in some way was a memorable event 
in our master's life4  ,with the        
exception of a visit to ,rouen in his   
old age1 the trip to  ,fontainebleau    
afforded ,chardin the only glimpse he   
ever had of the  world beyond ,paris and
 the surrounding district4    ,the first
 record we have of ,chardin's           

independent activity has reference  to  
an astonishing piece of work which has  
disappeared long since1 but is  known to
 us from an etching by ,j4 de ,goncourt4
 ,the work in question was  a large     
signboard1 #ad feet #c inches long by #b
 feet #c inches wide1  commissioned from
 him by a surgeon who was on terms of   
friendship with  ,chardin's father4     
,perhaps the young artist had seen      
,watteau's famous  signboard for        
,gersaint1 now in the ,german ,emperor's
 ,collection4 ,however  this may be1    
like ,watteau he departed from the      
customary practice of  filling the board
 with a design made up of the implements
 of the  patron's craft1#a and painted  
an animated street scene1 representing  
the sequel to a duel4 ,the scene is     
outside the house of a surgeon who  is  
attending to the wound of the defeated  
combatant1 whilst a group of  idle folk 
of all conditions1 attracted by         
curiosity1 have assembled in  the       
street1 and are watching the            

proceedings1 and excitedly discussing   
the occurrence4 ,although ,goncourt's   
etching naturally gives no  indication  
of the colour and technique of this     
remarkable and  unconventional painting1
 it enables us to see the very natural  
and  skilful grouping and the excellent 
management of light and shade which     
,chardin had mastered even at that early
 period4    ,the sign was put up on a   
,sunday1 and attracted a vast crowd     
whose  exclamations induced the surgeon 
to step outside his house and ascertain 
the cause of the stir4 ,being a man of  
little taste1 his anger was  aroused by 
,chardin's bold departure from          
convention1 but the general  approval   
with which the quartier greeted         
,chardin's original conception  soon    
soothed his ruffled spirit1 and the     
incident led to no further              
unpleasantness4    ,save for the story  
of the surgeon's sign1 nothing is known 
of ,chardin's  doings from his days of  
apprenticeship to his first appearance1 

in #agbh1  at the ,exposition de la     
,jeunesse1 a kind of open-air ,salon    
without  jury1 held annually in the     
,place ,dauphine on ,corpus ,christi    
day1 between  #f ,a4,m4 and midday1     
weather permitting4 ,with the exception 
of the  annual ,salon at the ,louvre1   
which was only open to the works of the 
members of the ,academy1 this           
,exposition de la ,jeunesse was the only
  opportunity given to artists for      
submitting their works to the public4   
,at the time when ,chardin made his dbut
 at this picture fair1 the annual       
,academy ,salon instituted by ,louis    
,,xiv4 had been abandoned for some      
years1 so that even the members of the  
,academy were driven to the ,place      
,dauphine in order to keep in touch with
 the public4 ,in the contemporary       
criticisms of the ,mercure the names of 
all the greatest ,french masters  of the
 first half of the eighteenth century   
are to be found among the  exhibitors of
 the ,jeunesse--the shining lights of   

the profession1  ,coypel1 ,rigaud1 ,de  
,troy1 among the crowd of youngsters    
eager to make  their reputation4        
,lancret1 ,oudry1 ,boucher1 ,nattier1   
,lemoine--none of  them disdained to    
show their works under conditions which 
had much more  in common with those that
 obtain at an annual fair1 than with    
those we  are accustomed to associate   
with a picture exhibition4 ,the         
spectacle of  dignified ,academicians   
thus seeking public suffrage in the     
street  finally induced ,louis de       
,boullogne1 ,director of the ,academy1  
to seek for  an amelioration of the     
prevailing conditions1 and thanks to the
  intervention of the                   
,comptroller-general of the ,king's     
,buildings the  ,salon of the ,louvre   
was re-opened in #agbe for a term of    
four  days--outsiders being excluded as 
of yore4    ,on ,corpus ,christi day1   
#agbh1 ,chardin1 then in his            
twenty-ninth year1  availed himself for 
the first time of the opportunity given 

to rising  talent1 and made his         
appearance at the ,place ,dauphine with 
a dozen  still-life paintings1 including
 ,the ,skate and ,the ,buffet--the two  
masterpieces which are counted to-day   
among the treasured possessions of  the 
,louvre4 ,this sudden revelation of so  
personal and fully developed a  talent  
caused no little stir4 ,chardin was     
hailed as a master worthy to  be placed 
beside the great ,netherlandish         
still-life painters1 and was  urged by  
his friends to present himself forthwith
 at the ,academy4  ,chardin reluctantly 
followed the advice1 and1 having        
arranged his  pictures ready for        
inspection in the first room of the     
,academy at the  ,louvre1 retired to an 
adjoining apartment1 where he awaited1  
not without  serious misgivings1 the    
result of his bold venture4    ,his     
fears proved to be unfounded4 ,a        
contemporary of ,chardin's has left  an 
amusing account of what befell our timid
 artist4 ,m4 de ,largillire  entered the

 first room and carefully examined the  
pictures placed there  by ,chardin4     
,then he passed into the next room to   
speak to the  candidate4 ,you have here 
some very fine pictures which are surely
 the  work of some good ,flemish        
painter--an excellent school for colour1
 this  ,flemish school4 ,now let us see 
your works4 ,sir1 you have just seen    
them4 ,what6 these were your pictures8  
,yes1 sir4 ,then1 said  ,largillire1    
present yourself1 my friend1 present    
yourself4 ,cazes1  ,chardin's old       
master1 likewise fell into the innocent 
trap1 and was  equally complimentary1   
without suspecting the authorship of the
 exposed  pictures4 ,in fact1 he        
undertook to stand as his pupil's       
sponsor4 ,when  ,louis de ,boullogne1   
,director of the ,academy and painter to
 the king1  arrived1 ,chardin informed  
him that the exhibited pictures were    
painted  by him1 and that the ,academy  
might dispose of those which were       
approved  of4 ,he is not yet 'confirmed'

 7agr7 and he talks already of being    
'received' 7reu76#b ,however1 he added1 
you have done well to  mention it4 ,he  
reported the proposal1 which was        
immediately  accepted4 ,the ballot      
resulted in ,chardin being at the same  
time1  confirmed and received4 ,on      
,sept4 #be1 #agbh1 he was sworn in1 and 
became a full member of the ,academy4   
,in recognition of his rare genius1  and
 in consideration of his impecunious    
condition1 his entrance fee was  reduced
 to #ajj livres4 ,the ,buffet and a     
,kitchen piece were accepted  as diploma
 pictures4    ,illustration3 ,,plate    
,,vii4--,,le ,,panneau ,,de ,p,,ches    
7,in the ,louvre7    ,le ,panneau de    
,pches1 7,the ,basket of ,peaches7 is a 
magnificent  instance of ,chardin's     
extraordinary skill in the rendering of 
textures  and substances4 ,note the     
perfect truth of all the colour-values1 
the  play of light and shade and        
reflections1 such as the opening up of  
the  shadow thrown by the tumbler owing 

to the refractive qualities of the  wine
 contained in the glass4 ,note1 also1   
the accidental appearance of  the       
carefully grouped objects--the manner in
 which the knife-handle  projects from  
the table4 ,the plate is reproduced from
 the original  painting at the ,louvre  
in ,paris4    ,in spite of this sudden  
success1 ,chardin was by no means on the
 road to  fortune4 ,his pictures sold   
slowly and at very low prices4 ,he      
always had  a very modest opinion of the
 financial value of his works1 and was  
ever  ready to part with them at        
ridiculously low prices1 or to offer    
them as  presents to his friends4 ,the  
story goes that on one occasion1 when   
his  friend ,le ,bas wished to buy a    
picture which ,chardin was just         
finishing1  he offered to exchange it   
for a pretty waistcoat4 ,when the king's
 sister  admired one of his pastel      
portraits and asked the price1 he       
immediately  begged her to accept it as 
a token of gratitude for her interest in

 his  work4 ,admirably tactful is the   
form in which ,chardin gives practical  
expression to his gratitude for ,m4 de  
,vandires' successful efforts at        
procuring him a pension from the king4  
,through ,lpici1 the secretary of  the  
,academy1 he begs ,vandires to accept   
the dedication of an engraving  after   
his ,lady with a ,bird-organ2 and asks  
permission to state on the  margin that 
the original painting is in the         
,collection of ,m4 de  ,vandires4 ,the  
request was granted4    ,small wonder1  
then1 if in spite of the modesty of his 
personal  requirements ,chardin1 even   
after his election to the ,academy1 had 
to  wait over two years before he was in
 a position to marry ,marguerite        
,sainctar1 whom he had met at a dance   
some years before1 and who during  the  
period of waiting had lost her health1  
her parents1 and her modest  fortune1   
and had to go to live with her guardian4
 ,chardin's father1 who  had warmly     
approved of his son's engagement1 now   

objected to the  marriage1 but nothing  
could deter ,simon from his honourable  
purpose1  and the marriage took place at
 ,st4 ,sulpice on ,february #a1 #agca4  
,he took  his wife to his parents' house
 at the corner of the ,rue ,princesse1  
where he had been living before his     
marriage1 and before the end of  the    
year he was presented with a son1 who   
was given the name ,pierre              
,jean-,baptiste4 ,two years later a     
daughter was born--,marguerite ,agnes2  
but ,chardin's domestic happiness was   
not destined to last long1 for on       
,april #ad1 #agce1 he lost both wife and
 daughter4    ,his son was1 however1 his
 greatest source of grief4 ,remembering 
the  imaginary disadvantages he had     
suffered from his lack of humanistic    
education1 he determined that his boy   
should be better equipped for the       
artistic profession1 and had him        
thoroughly well instructed in the       
classics4 ,he then had him prepared at  
one of the ,academy ateliers for        

competing for the ,prix de ,rome4 ,no   
doubt owing to his father's then  rather
 powerful influence1 ,pierre ,chardin   
gained the coveted prize in  #aged1 and 
after having passed his three years'    
probation at the recently  established  
cole des lves protgs1 which he had      
entered with the  second batch of pupils
 by whom the first successful ,romans   
were  replaced1 he set out for ,rome in 
,october #ageg4 ,but ,pierre1           
discouraged  perhaps from his earliest  
attempts by the perfection of his       
father's art  which he could never hope 
to attain1 indolent moreover and        
intractable1  made little progress under
 ,natoire1 who was then ,director of the
 ,school  of ,rome4 ,pierre worked      
little1 quarrelled with his colleagues1 
and never  produced either a copy or an 
original work that was considered good  
enough to be sent to ,paris4 ,he does   
not know how to handle the brush1  and  
what he does looks like a tired and not 
very pleasing attempt1 runs  ,natoire's 

report to ,marigny in #agfa4 ,he        
returned to ,paris in #agfb1 but  his   
whole life was a failure4 ,he fully     
realised his inability ever to  arrive  
at artistic achievement4 ,in #agfg he   
went to ,venice with the  ,french       
ambassador1 the ,marquis de ,paulmy1 and
 was never heard of since4  ,it was said
 that he had found his death in the     
waters of a ,venetian  ,canal4    ,but  
to return to ,simon ,chardin--we find   
him again among the exhibitors  of the  
,place ,dauphine in #agcb1 with some    
pieces of still-life1 two large         
decorative panels of musical trophies1  
and a wonderfully realistic  painting in
 imitation of a bronze bas-relief after 
a terra-cotta of  ,duquesnoy4 ,these    
imitation reliefs were then much in     
vogue for  over-doors and wall          
decorations in the houses of the great1 
as1 for  instance1 in the ,palace of    
,compigne4 ,two authentic pieces of the 
kind1  executed in grisaille1 are in the
 ,collection of ,dr4 ,tuffier4 ,the one 

of  the #agcb exhibition was bought by  
,van ,loo for #bjj livres1 and is now in
  the ,marcille ,collection4 ,according 
to contemporary criticism the           
bronze-tone of the relief was so        
perfectly rendered that it produced an  
illusion which touch alone can destroy4 
,about this time ,chardin's still-life  
period comes to a close1 and we  find   
him henceforth devoting the best of his 
power to the domestic genre   la        
,teniers 7as it was dubbed by his own   
patrons and contemporaries71  though    
even in later years still-life pieces   
continue to figure now and  then among  
his ,salon exhibits4 ,his first triumphs
 in the new field of  action were scored
 in #agcd1 when his sixteen             
contributions to the  ,jeunesse         
exhibition included the ,washerwoman    
7now in the ,hermitage  ,collection71   
the ,woman drawing ,water 7painted in   
several versions or  replicas1 of which 
the best known are at the ,stockholm    
,museum1 and in  the ,collections of    

,sir ,frederick ,cook at ,richmond and  
of ,m4 ,eudoxe  ,marcille in ,paris72   
the ,card ,castle 7now in the           
,collection of ,baron  ,henri de        
,rothschild72 and the ,lady sealing a   
,letter 7in the ,german  ,emperor's     
,collection74 ,it is interesting to note
 that this last named  picture is the   
only genre piece by ,chardin with life  
size figures4    ,chardin's new         
departure immediately found favour1 and 
although he  continued to charge        
ludicrously inadequate prices for his   
work1 which1  with the deliberate       
slowness of his method1 prevented him   
from rising to  well deserved           
prosperity1 he not only experienced no  
difficulty in  disposing of his         
pictures1 but had to duplicate and      
reduplicate them to  meet the demand of 
his patrons1 foremost among whom were   
the ,swedish  ,count ,tessin and the    
,austrian ,prince ,liechtenstein4 ,in   
view of the many  versions that exist of
 most of the master's genre pieces it is

 often  difficult or impossible to      
decide which is the original1 and which 
a  replica4 ,the artist's modesty with  
regard to his charges may be gathered   
from the fact that1 at the time of his  
highest vogue1 he only asked            
twenty-five louis-d'or a piece for two  
pictures commissioned by ,count         
,tessin1 whilst the painter ,wille was  
able to secure a pair for  thirty-six   
livres4    ,three of the genre pictures 
of the #agcd exhibition were sent by    
,chardin  in the following year to a    
competitive show held by the            
,academicians to  fill the vacancies of 
professor1 adjuncts1 and councillors of 
the  ,academy2 but ,chardin was among   
the unsuccessful candidates1 the votes  
declaring in favour of ,michel and      
,carle ,van ,loo1 ,boucher1 ,natoire1   
,lancret1 and ,parrocel4    ,the regular
 course of the ,academy ,salons1 which  
had been interrupted  since #agjd1 save 
for the tentative four days' exhibition 
at the ,louvre  in #agbe1 was resumed in

 #agcg1 first in alternate years1 and   
then  annually without break until the  
present day4 ,at the inaugural          
exhibition ,chardin exhibited again the 
three pieces of the #agcb and #agce     
shows1 together with ,van ,loo's bronze 
relief1 the portrait of his friend      
,aved 7known as ,le ,souffleur1 or ,the 
,chemist71 and several pictures  of     
children playing1 a class of subject in 
which the master stands  unrivalled     
among the ,frenchmen of his time4       
,fragonard1 of course1  achieved        
greatness as a painter of children1 but 
to him the child was an  object for     
portraiture1 whilst ,chardin1 the       
student of life1 painted the  life1 the 
work and pleasures1 of the child1 at the
 same time never  losing sight of       
portraiture4    ,illustration3 ,,plate  
,,viii4--,,la ,,pourvoyeuse    7,in the 
,louvre7    ,la ,pourvoyeuse1 of which  
picture the first dated version1 painted
 in  #agch1 is in the possession of the 
,german ,emperor1 is one of the most    

masterly of ,chardin's earlier pictures 
of homely incidents of everyday  life4  
,the attitude of the woman1 who has just
 returned from market and  is depositing
 her load of victuals1 is admirably true
 to life2 and the  still-life painting  
of the black bottles on the ground1 the 
pewter  plate1 the loaf of bread1 and so
 forth1 testifies to the master's       
supreme skill4 ,from the glimpse of the 
courtyard through the open door1  it can
 be seen that the setting of the sun is 
identical with that of  ,the            
,fountain--that is to say1 that it      
represents the modest house in  the ,rue
 ,princesse1 in which ,chardin lived up 
to the time of his second  marriage4    
,another replica is in the collection of
 ,prince ,liechtenstein  in ,vienna4    
,our plate is reproduced from the       
version in the ,louvre4    ,his success 
was decisive4 ,his reputation was now   
firmly established1  and still further  
increased by his next year's exhibit of 
eight  pictures--among them the ,boy    

with the ,top1 and also the ,lady       
sealing  a ,letter1 which he had already
 shown at the ,jeunesse exhibition in   
#agcd4 ,six pictures followed in the    
next year1 including the ,governess1    
the ,pourvoyeuse 7now in the ,louvre71  
and the ,cup of ,tea2 and in #agdj  his 
popularity reached its zenith with the  
exhibition of his masterpiece  ,grace   
before ,meat 7le ,bndicit71 in addition 
to which he showed  the two             
singeries--,the ,monkey ,painter and    
,the ,monkey ,antiquary  7now in the    
,louvre7--even ,chardin could not hold  
out against the bad  taste which        
applauded this stupid invention of the  
,netherlanders--and  several other      
domestic genre pieces4 ,a replica of the
 ,bndicit was  commissioned by ,count   
,tessin for the ,king of ,sweden1 and is
 now at the  ,stockholm ,museum4    ,the
 bad state of his health seriously      
interfered with his work during  the    
next few years1 and his contributions to
 the ,salon of #agda were  restricted to

 ,the ,morning ,toilet and ,m4 ,lenoir's
 ,son building a ,card  ,castle1 whilst 
he was an absentee from the following   
year's exhibition4    ,in #agdc ,chardin
 lost his mother1 with whom he had been 
living since his  wife's death1 and who 
had been looking after his boy's early  
education4  ,chardin1 slow worker as he 
always was1 and overwhelmed with        
commissions  for new pictures and       
replicas1 which he continued to paint at
 starvation  rates1 had no time to      
devote to the bringing up of his son1   
which was  perhaps one of the reasons   
which induced him to marry1 in the year 
following his mother's death1 a         
musketeer's widow1 of thirty-seven1     
,franoise ,marguerite ,pouget1 a worthy 
woman of no particular personal  charm1 
to judge from the portrait left by the  
master's chalks1 but an  excellent      
housekeeper who managed to bring a      
certain degree of order  into her       
husband's affairs1 and proved to be of  
no little assistance to  him in his     

business dealings4 ,it was not exactly a
 love match1 but there  is no reason for
 doubting that the two worthy people    
lived in complete  harmony and enjoyed a
 fair amount of comfort4 ,the repeated  
references to  his financial troubles   
need not be taken in too literal a      
sense1 since  from #agdd1 the year of   
his marriage1 when he transferred his   
quarters to  his wife's house in the    
,rue ,princesse1 until #aggd1 when his  
affairs  really took a turn for the bad1
 he enjoyed the ownership of a house    
which he was then able to sell for      
#ah1jjj livres1 a by no means paltry    
amount for these days4 ,moreover1 in    
#ageb1 ,lpici's endeavours resulted  in 
the grant of a pension of #ejj livres by
 the king1 which1 according to  the     
petitioner's own words1 was sufficient  
to secure ,chardin's comfort4  ,true    
enough1 when the artist died in #aggi1  
his widow applied for relief  on the    
pretext of being practically left       
without means of subsistence4  ,but an  

investigation of the case led to the    
discovery that she was in  enjoyment of 
an annual income of from #fjjj to #hjjj 
livres6 ,a daughter1  who was born to   
the master by his second wife1 died soon
 after having  seen the light of the    
world4    ,the year #agdf was apparently
 more productive than the five preceding
  years2 but henceforth the number of   
his subject pictures became more and    
more restricted1 and ,chardin1 perhaps  
discouraged by the public  grumbling at 
his lack of original invention1 returned
 to the sphere of  his early            
successes--to still-life4 ,meanwhile his
 probity and  uprightness had gained him
 the highest esteem of his ,academic    
colleagues  and brought him new honours 
in his official position4 ,he was       
appointed  ,treasurer of the ,academy in
 #agee1 and soon afterwards succeeded   
,j4 ,a4  ,portail as hanger of the      
,salon exhibition1 a difficult office   
which  needed a man of ,chardin's tact1 
fairness1 and honesty4    ,when ,chardin

 took up his duties as ,treasurer he    
found the finances of  the ,academy in a
 deplorable condition4 ,his predecessor 
,j4 ,b4 ,reydellet1  who had acted as   
huissier and concierge1 had neither been
 able to  exercise a restraining        
influence upon the rowdy tendencies of  
the  students1 nor to keep even a       
semblance of order in the accounts4 ,on 
his  death his legacy to the ,academy   
was a deficit of close on #aj1jjj       
livres4  ,chardin1 assisted by his      
business-like wife1 did his best to wipe
 off  the effects of his predecessor's  
negligence or incompetence1 but the     
task added very considerably to his     
worries1 especially as1 owing to        
financial stress1 the ,academicians'    
pensions were frequently kept in        
arrear1 and for years ,royal support was
 withheld4 ,matters reached a  climax in
 #aggb1 when the ,academy found itself  
in such straits1 that the  question of  
dissolving the institution had to be    
seriously considered4  ,chardin's appeal

 to ,marigny1 and through him to the    
,abb ,terray1  ,comptroller-,general of 
,finances1 however1 led to the desired  
result1 and  the much needed support was
 granted4    ,the quarters at the       
,louvre1 vacated by the death of the    
king's engraver  and goldsmith ,marteau 
in ,march #ageg1 were given to ,chardin1
 who let his  house in the ,rue         
,princesse to ,joseph ,vernet--another  
change which must  have contributed     
considerably to the ageing master's     
peace of mind4 ,in  his wonted slow     
manner he continued to paint still-life1
 and received  several important        
commissions for the decoration of ,royal
 and other  residences4 ,thus1 in #agfd1
 his friend ,cochin procured for him1   
through  ,marigny1 a commission for some
 over-doors for the ,chteau of ,choisy4 
,they depicted the attributes of        
,science1 ,art1 and ,music1 and were    
exhibited in the ,salon of #agfe4 ,a    
similar order for two over-doors in  the
 music-room of the ,chteau of           

,bellevue--the instruments of civil and 
of military music--followed in the next 
year4 ,the payment for the five1  which 
was delayed until #agga1 amounted to    
#ejjj livres4    ,chardin's last years  
were saddened by the tragic end of his  
son and by a  terribly painful illness4 
,his duties as ,treasurer became too    
much for  him1 and he resigned this     
office to the sculptor ,coustou in      
#aggd4 ,there  was a small deficit which
 he volunteered to make good1 but this  
offer  was declined1 and a banquet was  
given to him by his colleagues as an    
expression of their appreciation of his 
services4 ,the acute suffering  caused  
by his illness did not prevent him from 
continuing his artistic  work1 and we   
find him at the very end of his career  
branching out in an  entirely new       
direction4 ,the pastel portraits of his 
closing years betray  no decline in     
keenness of vision and in power of      
expression4 ,indeed1  they must be      
counted among his finest achievements4  

,he worked to the  very last1 and sent  
some pastel heads to the ,salon of      
#aggi4 ,on the #fth  of ,december of the
 same year he breathed his last4 ,his   
remains were  buried at ,st4            
,germain-l',auxerrois1 in the parish of 
the ,louvre4 ,with him  died the art of 
the ,french eighteenth century4 ,a kind 
fate had saved him  from the misfortune 
that fell to the share of his           
contemporaries  ,fragonard and ,greuze1 
who outlived him by many years1 but who 
also  outlived the ancien rgime and died
 in poverty and neglect and misery4     
,the plates are printed by ,,bemrose    
,,sons1 ,,ltd41 ,london and ,derby      
,the text at the ,,ballantyne ,,press1  
,edinburgh          ,,footnotes3    #a  
,a signboard of the conventional type1  
but painted with all ,chardin's         
consummate mastery1 is the one executed 
for the perfume distiller  ,pinaud1     
which appeared at the ,guildhall        
,exhibition in #aijb1 and at            
,whitechapel in #aijg4    #b ,the       

candidates had to pass through a        
probationary stage before they  were    
definitely received by the ,academy4    
,transcriber's ,notes3    ,simple       
typographical errors were corrected4    
,page #cj3 ,goncourt brothers' was      
printed as brothers' ,goncourt4         
,table of ,contents added by            
,transcriber4