Discoveries: Chardin: An Intimate Art

by Hélène Prigent, Pierre Rosenberg

This new book explores Chardin's life and works, the development of his style, and his impact on later artists. It brings together his most influential paintings and pastels, as well as little-known works. Pierre Rosenberg, director of the Louvre and an authority on Chardin, and Helene Prigent have created a book that is a celebration of one of France's treasures.

Genres: Art

127 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2000

Reviews

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although this book appears on first glance to be a basic guidebook to the relatively obscure 18th century French genre painter Jean Simeon Chardin, it is actually a dense, information packed volume co-authored by Pierre Rosenberg, former director of the Louvre, and one of the foremost scholars of 18th century French Art. The book provides a fairly comprehensive overview of Chardin’s career with discussion of many of his more famous works. While I’m well versed in the art of 18th century France (to the extent my BA Art History thesis was on the subject) I felt like I learned a great deal. Chardin is someone who is widely, but shallowly, discussed and understood even to those in the field, and this book is a treat. It also contains a selection of source material about Chardin, as well as information on a wide range of his paintings. There are a few missteps, however. The book is translated from French, and at times it is jarring, and there are numerous examples of poorly translated words. The layout is often awkward—pages contain images, as well as both extended captions and text. Had the captions and text been combined, the book would have been much stronger, as often the captions continue points made in the text, and you constantly find yourself jumping back and forth in the narrative. Finally, you’re never really clear on what the message is—the authors both clearly feel, judging from their professional backgrounds, that Chardin is a great and underappreciated painter, but they also seem to constantly belittle his talent, methods and work. This book is certainly worth a read if you know about or are interested in 18th century art, however, it is not a beginner work, and the authors assume the readers bring a fairly comprehensive knowledge of major painters, cultural figures and artistic practices of the period.

[Cathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a pocket size book about one of France's greatest painters, Chardin. Filled with beautiful photographs of many of Chardin's works, it gives insight into an artist well ahead of his time in 18th century France. This is a translation from French, which perhaps stands in the way of a smooth critical account. The authors also presume a certain base of knowledge of French cultural history. The biographical information and comments from Chardin's associates give a deeper understanding of the importance of this humble man's work in the history of the art of France and possibly the western world.