‘Fragonard: The Fantasy Figures’ brings together 14 paintings by Jean Honoré Fragonard, including the gallery’s own Young Girl Reading (c. 1769), and a newly discovered sheet of annotated sketches. Fragonard is considered among the most important French painters of his era, and this series casts light on the development of his career, and of the innovative imagery of his fantasy figure series. The works depict men and women posed at leisure or employed in various pursuits, often wearing extravagant attire. Shaped by artistic imagination, these paintings pushed the boundaries of accepted figure painting at the time. Find out more about the Fragonard exhibition from the National Gallery of Art’s website.
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Young Girl Reading (c. 1769), Jean Honoré Fragonard. National Gallery of Art, Washington
Woman with a Dog (c. 1769), Jean Honoré Fragonard. © The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Image Source: Art Resource, NY
Man in Costume (c. 1767–68), Jean Honoré Fragonard. Image © The Art Institute of Chicago
The Writer (c. 1769), Jean Honoré Fragonard. © RMN-Grand Palais / Art Resource, NY
M. de La Bretèche (c. 1769), Jean Honoré Fragonard. © RMN-Grand Palais / Art Resource, NY
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