The Birth of Venus (Fragonard)

The Birth of Venus (French: La Naissance de Vénus) is an oil-on-canvas painting by the French Rococo painter Jean-Honoré Fragonard, produced between 1753 and 1755.[2] It is held by the Musée Grobet-Labadié in Marseille.[1]

The Birth of Venus
ArtistJean-Honoré Fragonard
Yearc. 1753−1755
Mediumoil on canvas
Dimensions54 cm × 83 cm (21 in × 33 in)[1]
LocationMusée Grobet-Labadié, Marseille

A sketch for the painting is in the Smith College Museum of Art.[3] In the sketch, Fragonard used a mix of red chalk and other media to study the composition before transferring it onto canvas.[4] The Birth of Venus and its sketch are an example of Fragonard's habit of reversing scene direction and changing figure positions in order to achieve an ideal composition.[5]

Fragonard was inspired by François Boucher's The Triumph of Venus when he created this painting (Boucher was Fragonard's teacher).

See also

edit

References

edit

Sources

edit
  • "Analyse Naissance de Venus". Etudier. December 7, 2014. Retrieved July 24, 2019.
  • Dupuy-Vachey, Marie-Anne; Stein, Perrin (2016). "Every Possible Combination: Between Inspiration and Finish in Fragonards Oeuvre". Fragonard: Drawing Triumphant. Metropolitan Museum of Art. ISBN 978-1588396013.