About the Artist

The pupil of Noel Nicolas Coypel and Pieter Jacques Cazes, both painters of historical scenes. He then, studied in Fountainbleau with Jean-Baptise van Loo. In 1724 he became a member of the Guild of St. Luke and in 1728 was accepted into the Royal Academy, where he held important positions until 1772. Chardin depicts quiet scenes with poetic intensity, but without any surprise effects or symbolic meaning. His use of restrained, carefully graded colour tones, the apparently arbitrary arrangement of the objects in his pictures, and the lack of any emphasis through lighting represent a combination of Dutch models with French tradition. He succeeded in making the still life and the genre painting, both of which were held in low regard at that time, extremely important elements of French art. Major works by the artist include Child with a Top 1738, Woman Cleansing Turnips 1738, Girl with Suttlecock 1740