“Here you are again, you great magician, with your silent composition. How eloquently they speak to the artist! Everything they say to him about the imitation of nature, the science of color and harmony.” [i]
Said, Diderot. Even though Chardin was focusing on still life and scenes of daily life, which is low rank in Academy, however, his artworks were popular during that time in France. Soap Bubble by Jean–Siméon Chardin in 1733/1744 is one of the most famous genre masterpiece during the 18th century also it should be count as the first genre painting by Chardin. There were four versions of this work, the first version exhibited at Paris Salon in 1739 was lost and known only from Pierre Filloeul’s print. The other versions are at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NewYork, and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Because the two versions in NY and LA are both reverses, thus they probably mad after Filloeul’s print.[ii] Chardin established a solid reputation of his still life during 1720s-1730s. He was acquired to become a still life painter. He would repeat his work frequently, that is why makes public assume that he spent himself dearly on his work. After that, he started to painted figures, always child in a play or kitchen maids and other servant.[iii] Soap Bubble was probably one of Chardin’s early experimental genre paintings. Chardin was using the Dutch motif, dou, as the element was very popular in the 17th century French.[iv] In this composition, a youth in a brown coat with white lose suit inside leans on a window stone sill and blows up a soap bubble. His front hair is dropping by sides naturally. The long hair bands low back. Besides his lefts elbow a glass of soap water with a stick. The location of the glass, which is not really beside but little in front of his elbow created a space relationship instead of the only surface. A younger boy stands beside him in the shadow with a half face covered by the stone sill. His eyes are very concentrated on the quivering expanding bubble, which seems like it is going to slip from youth’s straw. The audience might be curious about the expression of the little boy's covered half face, and try to image it might be worried about the bubble is going to explode or feel fabulous about the big bubble. On the other hand, the window just likes a frame and the leaves and branched like decorations on our left side created a “scene” for us. The light illuminated the front- on youth’s face and hands, glass and stone sill. The back painted in shadow, created a fore, back perspective, depth of field and also created an incredible atmosphere, but also peace and quiet. He loved above all to render the surface of things, but he gave them depth of space and of feeling- by his artful disposition of light and shadow, which gives his works and air of mystery.[v] It is very interesting to see that the symbolism of subject matters and the transience of human life.[vi] The bubble,which from butch and Flemish painting symbolized life’s fragility and the vanity of worldly pursuit.[vii] However, the soap bubble and these two young boys also aroused people’s childhood memories and naivety. One comment in French periodical The Artist in 1845: Nothing could be more natural, more graceful, or more harmonious than this charming composition. It is nature caught in the act, without dazzling color or the least affectation. You have seen this young boy twenty times, a hundred times…he reminds you nostalgically of the simple games of your own childhood.[viii] Drawing closer, the brush marks Chardin made and the harmonic balance of color mix lead our eyes going back and forth. The various dark colors, for example, the reddish dark gray of the window. The bluish and the reddish back color gradient in the back, showed us light transmit and space relation in the scene. His beige waistcoat and the reddish blurry line around his back and across over his arm, perfectly separated from the back, also gave the audience a dim structure of his body. [ix]Lose touches and the light and dark contrasts also made drapes tortuous. Leaves decorated left side, even though they were painted loosely with light green on the top with warm dark green on the bottom, and the red environment color reflected on the leaves on the bottom corner. However it illustrated the thickness and light and shadow, also the reflection of the environment combined with free brush marks also expressed a yearning, leisurely, tranquil, calm and peaceful emotions in the work. Compare to another work by Chardin, The Laundress in 1733. The tone and theme are quite similar to Soap Bubble. This composition was painted to accompany Woman at the Urn[x]. A maid is washing the clothes on our middle left side. She doesn’t face to the front directly, to the side for instead, which gave us an imagination space to assume the story in this scene, naturally but dramatic. A boy is sitting on a small wood chair beside the tub and blowing his little bubble. His expression and body gesture demonstrated that he was fully concentrated on his bubble gingerly. A cat crawled on the ground. On the back, there is another maid is hanging clothes back to back outside of the door. Those subjects all created a triangle relationship in the work. The contrast of light and shadow just like Soap Bubble, made our eyes moving around. This painting also based on Dutch motif, the child at the laundress’s feet is very typical; the cat crouching in the corner is also an example. The bubble, which represented time’s evanescence, is also Dutch inspiration too.[xi] The door, which is the idea of duo, created an image in the image. Two of these works are all about blows bubble. They are all inspired based on everyday life. Their actions and emotions are very concentrate and similar to each other, even though they are in different age. The senses of pictures are also close to each other—dynamic but also transience and motionless, naivety air and atmosphere of mystery. [xii] Graceful, peaceful, calm and quite. All in all. Jean- Simeon Chardin as a great magician painter left big influences from 18 century France until nowadays. He used his incredible senses of color balance and harmony, brought tons of fabulous work to the public. His magic wakes up our memories and tranquil in our de [i] Rosenberg, Pierre. Chardin, Jean-Baptiste-Siméon. S.l.: Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1974. Print. Chapter One. [ii] Artalicious, It's. "Soap bubbles – Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin." It's Artalicious! July 20, 2015. Accessed May 09, 2017. https://itsartalicious.wordpress.com/2015/05/04/soap-bubbles-by-jean-baptiste-simeon-chardin/. [iii] Conisbee, Philip, and Joseph Fronek. Soap bubbles by Jean-Siméon Chardin: Los Angeles County Museum of Art (18.10.1990 - 20.1.1991). Los Angeles, 1990. Page.7. [iv] Chardin, Jean-Baptiste-Siméon, and Gabriel Naughton. Chardin. Oxford: Phaidon Press, 1996. Page.60. [v] Conisbee, Philip, and Joseph Fronek. Soap bubbles by Jean-Siméon Chardin: Los Angeles County Museum of Art (18.10.1990 - 20.1.1991). Los Angeles, 1990. Page.5. [vi] Chardin, Jean-Baptiste-Siméon, and Gabriel Naughton. Chardin. Oxford: Phaidon Press, 1996. Page.60. [vii] Chardin, Jean-Baptiste-Siméon, and Gabriel Naughton. Chardin. Oxford: Phaidon Press, 1996. Page.60. [viii] Chardin, Jean-Baptiste-Siméon, and Gabriel Naughton. Chardin. Oxford: Phaidon Press, 1996. Page.60. [ix] Conisbee, Philip, and Joseph Fronek. Soap bubbles by Jean-Siméon Chardin: Los Angeles County Museum of Art (18.10.1990 - 20.1.1991). Los Angeles, 1990. Page.6. [x] Chardin, Jean-Baptiste-Siméon, and Gabriel Naughton. Chardin. Oxford: Phaidon Press, 1996. Page.58. [xi] Chardin, Jean-Baptiste-Siméon, and Gabriel Naughton. Chardin. Oxford: Phaidon Press, 1996. Page60. [xii] Conisbee, Philip, and Joseph Fronek. Soap bubbles by Jean-Siméon Chardin: Los Angeles County Museum of Art (18.10.1990 - 20.1.1991). Los Angeles, 1990. Page.9.
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