Chardin, << shahr DAN, >> Jean Baptiste Simeon (1699-1779), is now regarded as one of the great French painters of the 1700’s. Chardin was born on Nov. 2, 1699, in Paris, and he lived there all his life, content to paint the common scenes and objects of daily life. The Cardplayer (1737) and Grace Before Meat (1740) are excellent examples of Chardin’s early style.
Like the Dutch masters of the 1600’s, Chardin deals with themes that must attract interest chiefly through the quality of the paintings. He lifts simple people and objects into a painted world of quiet perfection with a sure sense of design, color, and texture. Even the critic Denis Diderot, who thought art should deal with “noble” themes, admired Chardin for his ability to make common things universal through the magic of style. Chardin’s intimate subjects show the growing influence of middle-class taste on painting during his time.
Chardin’s colors are generally low in key so that the effect is subdued rather than brilliant. He applied the paint in a mixture of glazes and thick pigment that suggests the textures of his subjects with amazing accuracy. His paintings are carefully composed, and each form or part has a balanced and proportioned place in the final effect. Chardin died on Dec. 6, 1779.
