Fragonard, Jean-Honoré

(born April 5, 1732, Grasse, Fr.—died Aug. 22, 1806, Paris) French painter. He studied with Fran in Paris c. 1749. He subsequently won a Prix de Rome, and while in Italy (1756–61) he traveled extensively and executed many sketches of the countryside, especially the gardens at the Villa d'Este at Tivoli, and developed a great admiration for the work of Giovanni Battista Tiepolo. In 1765 his large historical painting Coresus Sacrifices Himself to Save Callirhoë was purchased for Louis XV and won Fragonard election to the French Royal Academy. He soon abandoned this style to concentrate on landscapes in the manner of Jacob van Ruisdael, portraits, and the decorative, erotic outdoor party scenes for which he became famous (e.g., The Swing, c. 1766). The gentle hedonism of such party scenes epitomized the Rococo style. Although the greater part of his active life was passed during the Neoclassical period, he continued to paint in a Rococo idiom until shortly before the French Revolution, when he lost his patrons and livelihood.

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