Watteau, Antoine (1684-1721) La danse champêtre (The Country Dance) c.1706–1710 Oil on canvas, 50 x 60.01 cm Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indianapolis In this, his earliest known painting, Watteau draws inspiration from scenes of fairs, peasant weddings, and country dances by Flemish…
Fragonard, Jean-Honoré (1732-1806) Les joies de la maternité (The Joys of Motherhood) c.1754 Oil on canvas, 57 x 38-1/2 in. Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indianapolis Idealized visions of the pleasures of local country life were popularized in the 1740s by Charles-Simon Favart…
Seurat, Georges (1859-1891) Port-en-Bessin 1888 Oil on canvas, 66 x 83.2 cm Minneapolis Institute of Art, Minneapolis In the summer of 1888, Georges Seurat worked in Port-en-Bessin, a small fishing village in Normandy. He painted six views of the seaport and its…
Boucher, François (1703-1770) La Fontaine de Vénus (Fountain of Venus) 1756 Oil on canvas, 233 x 215 cm Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland Lighthearted, erotic decorative schemes remained popular among the French aristocracy throughout the 1700s. In this painting, part of the…
Botticelli, Sandro (c.1445-1510) Madonna col Bambino (Madonna and Child) 1470 Oil on wood, 62 x 48 cm Musée Jacquemart-André, Paris This work—belatedly attributed to Botticelli—is distinguished by the simplicity of the composition, the finesse of the execution, and the serene expressions on…
Botticelli, Sandro (c.1445-1510) La fuga in Egitto (The Flight into Egypt) 1510 Oil on canvas, 151 x 89 cm Musée Jacquemart-André, Paris Attributed to Botticelli, a painter in whom Nélie André was particularly interested, this painting represents a famous biblical episode—the flight…
Guardi, Francesco (1712-1793) Portico veneziano (Venetian portico / Imaginary Portico) c.1760 Gouache on paper, 53 x 39 cm Musée Jacquemart-André, Paris The picture combines realism and fantasy, using a technique that was quite unusual for Guardi: gouache on paper, which gives the…
Boucher, François (1703-1770) Le Sommeil de Vénus (Sleeping Venus) 1738 Oil on canvas, 96 x 143 cm Musée Jacquemart-André, Paris Companion: Boucher, François (1703-1770) La Toilette de Vénus 1738 Musée Jacquemart-André, Paris The Toilette of Venus and Sleeping Venus Initially intended to…
Bellini, Giovanni (c.1430-1516) Madonna in trono col Bambino (Madonna Enthroned with Child) 1510 Oil on wood panel, 131 x 103 cm Musée Jacquemart-André, Paris The composition is highly structured and the various planes create a sense of depth. The Virgin is seated…
Perugino (c.1446-1523) Madonna col Bambino (Madonna and Child) c.1470 Oil on wood, 61 x 41 cm Musée Jacquemart-André, Paris The position of the infant Jesus in the work by Perugino is similar to that in the painting by Botticelli. This is explained…