Portrait of a Man in Costume

Notes from the museum

One of the most prolific artists of the eighteenth century, Jean-Honoré Fragonard excelled at painting amorous subjects, lush landscapes, and lighthearted scenes of everyday life, only rarely turning his hand to the antique subjects most esteemed by the art academies. His paintings also eschewed the high finish then deemed appropriate for a carefully executed work; instead, he applied paint directly and impetuously, and his compositions often have the character of quick sketches. Portrait of a Man in Costume is closely related to a series of paintings traditionally known as “fantasy portraits,” although they actually depict members of the artist’s circle of friends and patrons. The precise identity of this figure is unknown, and the painting may have been intended as an imaginative type. The half-length format allowed Fragonard to use details of expression, pose, and dress to endow the subjects with extraordinary vitality. Ruff s, padded shoulders, and jaunty hats evoke historical costumes and reflect the artist’s appropriation of the styles and subjects of his predecessors, notably Peter Paul Rubens . The style of beard and mustache and the striped garment with extended shoulders suggest the fashions of the early Baroque period. The restricted color range of earthy green and brown emphasizes the man’s face, which appears luminous against a soft background. His large, heavy-lidded

Text: Art Institute of Chicago (open access). Our full story for this work is coming soon.

Slow Look

1. The whole picture Let your eyes wander. Where do they want to rest?
2. The light Find the brightest spot. What is it showing you?
3. The edges Look at what is half cut off at the borders.
4. One small detail Choose one tiny thing and stay with it for a while.
5. The whole picture again Step back. Has it changed for you?

About Jean Honoré Fragonard

Jean-Honoré Fragonard was a French painter and printmaker whose late Rococo manner was distinguished by remarkable facility, exuberance, and hedonism. One of the most prolific artists active in the last decades of the Ancien Régime, Fragonard produced more than 550 paintings, of which only five are dated. Among his most popular works are genre paintings conveying an atmosphere of intimacy and veiled eroticism.

Painter profile →