292 illustrations, 146 in colour

Jean Baptiste Simeon Chardin is acknowledged to be the finest genre and still-life painter of the eighteenth century. He rose to become one of the most highly regarded and eagerly sought-after artists of his time, yet how did this man, a painter of the most mundane subjects, come to be considered one of the greats, patronised by Catherine the Great and Frederick the Great, and achieving the highest royal pension ever by an artist of his time? And why does his work continue to intrigue us today?

Chardin’s brushwork, sometimes rough but always sensitive, transforms everyday domestic situations into scenes of enormous depth and poignancy: free from sentiment, his work nonetheless touches us with its calmness and humanity. His paintings are more than just depictions of homely contentment: they convey enduring values that transcend his time and bring the artist and the modern observer together.

As well as magnificent reproductions of Chardin’s paintings, this thorough and highly readable study contains an illustrated catalogue of prints made after them. Art historian Marianne Roland Michel, a gallery director and leading authority on eighteenth-century art, includes contemporary accounts by Denis Diderot and Charles Nicolas Cochin, to produce a fully rounded picture of the artist’s life, his critical reception, and the artistic milieu of his time. This lavish and wide-ranging work is an invaluable contribution to existing literature on Chardin and the eighteenth century.