Greuze. Childhood and family

After Hubert Robert (see article), Fragonard and Anne Vallayer-Coster (see article), it is now Jean-Baptiste Greuze’s turn to benefit from a small-scale retrospective worthy of a museum, thanks to the Galerie Coatalem. Nearly sixty works are on show, including paintings and drawings, all but seven from private collections.

Greuze. Readers’ first instinct may be to assume that they know the artist well. And yet there has never been an exhibition devoted to him in Paris. The only French retrospective dates back to 1974 (half a century ago) and was held in Dijon. Add to this the fact that four of the thirty or so known pastels are being shown here, and that many of the works are previously unpublished, and you can see just how interesting this event is, especially as it is accompanied by an excellent catalogue.
In addition to a copious essay by Emmanuelle Brugerolles on the way the artist conceived art and translated it into painting (his search for truth, often emphasised by commentators, his taste for compositions that tell a story and have a strong connection with the theatre, the importance of feelings, etc.), this book is written by a young art historian, Antoine Chatelain, a specialist in the artist who is preparing a thesis on his drawings. His text, which is based on the works presented and also draws on numerous comparative illustrations, is remarkable in every way.

1. Jean-Baptiste Greuze (1725-1805)
Bust of a Young Man, Head Three-quarters to the Left
Oil on canvas - 40.6 x 32.4 cm
Private collection
Photo: Galerie Coatalem/T. Hennocque

See the image in its page

No less remarkable is the collection of works, which seeks to present only the best of the artist’s output. Although we will not see any of his major painted compositions (most of which are in museums), the preparatory studies and drawings of some of the figures he painted for private collectors make it possible to evoke some of his most important paintings, such as The…