Peintures galantes et libertines - Watteau, Boucher, Fragonard...

WRITTEN IN FRENCH

This distinguished little book offers a rediscovery of the masterpieces of fête galante painting of the 18th century (Watteau, Boucher, Fragonard, but also Greuze, Lancret, Pater, etc) by partnering each work with a suggestive detail. The paintings are accompanied by a commentary on the work and an extract from novels, plays or poems from the same era (Marivaux, Diderot, Choderlos de Laclos, Sade, Crébillon fils, Parny, etc).

These gallant and libertine paintings are in keeping with the rococo style, with their country settings, luxurious and refined interiors, and sensuous women. This pictorial subtlety echoes 18th century language, which entangled itself in seductive syntax, embellished with precious adjectives, "gazing" at itself to better evoke the underlying eroticism of an era that was still carefree, though soon to end with the Revolution and the return to order imposed by neoclassicism.

Divided into three chapters (Fêtes galantes - La peinture dans le boudoir - Libertinage), this attractive book pays tribute to the painters and writers who defined a century in which tenderness was tinged with vice but frivolity was draped in elegance.
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