A new exhibition titled "Intimate Encounters: Love and Domesticity in Eighteenth-Century France" opened at The Hood Museum of Art this past Saturday.
Richard Rand, Curator of European Art, developed the first exhibition ever devoted to eighteenth-century French genre painting.
The show features 51 paintings and 29 prints on loan from world-renowned museums such as the Louvre in Paris, France, Nationalmuseum in Stockholm, Sweden, and the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
The selection of important works by Watteau, Boucher, Chardin, Fragonard and Greuze examine issues of gender roles, courtship and family life topics that are as pertinent to contemporary views as to eighteenth-century audiences.
A standing-room only audience filled Loew Auditorium to celebrate the opening of "Intimate Encounters." Rand delivered a lecture titled "Images of Heart and Home: Genre Painting in Eighteenth-Century France."
Director of the Hood Timothy Rubb gave the opening remarks, and Nancy Rogers of the National Endowment of the Humanities spoke on the necessity of interpretative exhibitions like "Intimate Encounters."
Rand's lecture and slide presentation illustrated how genre painting emerged as an alternative to public paintings such as history or biblical pictures whose didactic, often moralistic themes aimed to instruct viewers.
Modern viewers interpret genre paintings to be scenes of everyday life, but in the eighteenth century genre painting included virtually everything outside of history painting, such as still-lifes and landscapes.
Rand explained that "genre painting had to co-opt the narrative element of history painting" in order to appeal to a wider audience.
As more artists began to paint interior and domestic scenes, genre painting turned away from grand public displays to focus on private affairs.
These depictions of domestic life are linked to the Enlightenment philosophies of Jean Jacques Rousseau and Denis Diderot.
Themes of family values predominate these genre paintings. Some of the most common subjects include the feminine toilette, the joys of motherhood and the father figure as the center of the family.
The organization of the gallery space outlines a chronological progression for the viewer.
Early eighteenth-century canvases that portray romantic, frivolous scenes are arranged in the first half of the galleries.
These canvases were primarily produced for and bought by aristocratic patrons who collected art as a symbol of their largess and social standing.
In the second half of the galleries, the viewer encounters the canvases of domestic and family life that gained prominence in the second half of the century.
The exhibition features a number of prints that demonstrate the democratization of art for the masses.
As genre subjects increased in popularity, series of prints were produced so that these images were more affordable to middle-class buyers.
Even people who could not afford to purchase a print would have seen these genre scenes in public coffee houses and pubs, which truly merges the line between public and private display.
The delicate coloration, minute detail and luxurious sheen of some works on display will delight the senses. Rand commented that in one respect, these paintings had to appeal to "the world of appearance for the delectation of the viewer." Most assuredly, viewers at the Hood will experience the sensual nature of these works as potently as when the pictures were first completed.
The cost of mounting "Intimate Encounters" was partially funded by grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities, as well as through gifts from patrons of the Hood.
The Philip Fowler 1927 Memorial Fund, the Marie-Louise and Samuel R. Rosenthal Fund and the William B. Jaffe and Evelyn A.J. Hall Fund all contributed.
"Intimate Encounters" will be mounted through Jan. 4, 1998. It will also travel to the Toledo Museum of Art and the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.
The Hood Museum is open from 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. from Tuesday through Sunday and Wednesday until 9 p.m. Admission to the exhibit is free to the public.
