Born in Provence during the reign of Louis XV, Jean-Honore Fragonard died in Paris in 1806, aged seventy-four. With the exception of two visits to Italy and some resounding failures, we have few indications as to the artist’s career. The paintings were sometimes signed with a brusque "Frago" and were dated only occasionally...

Born in Provence during the reign of Louis XV, Jean-Honore Fragonard died in Paris in 1806, aged seventy-four. With the exception of two visits to Italy and some resounding failures, we have few indications as to the artist’s career. The paintings were sometimes signed with a brusque "Frago" and were dated only occasionally. He worked prolifically and in a highly personal style, his pictures being characterized by vivid colors and rapid, lively brushwork. For many the name Fragonard immediately conjures up such famous works as The Swing and The Bolt. But while these canvases rank among the great masterpieces of the 18th century, the artist’s oeuvre extends far beyond the merely erotic. This is no superficial haunter of boudoirs and bedrooms, but a painter whose strikingly varied range included scenes of everyday family and country life, religious subjects handled with real sensitivity, "fantasy portraits", Butch-style landscapes, and illustrations of poems and novels. In all these genres the sheer energy of his pencil and brush brings scenes and people vividly to life.