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Nicolas Lancret (; 22 January 1690 – 14 September 1743) was a French painter. Born in
Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
, he was a brilliant depicter of light comedy which reflected the tastes and manners of French society during the
regency In a monarchy, a regent () is a person appointed to govern a state because the actual monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge their powers and duties, or the throne is vacant and a new monarch has not yet been dete ...
of the Duke of Orleans and, later, early reign of King Louis XV.


Career

Lancret's first master was Pierre d'Ulin, but his acquaintance with and admiration for Watteau induced him to leave Ulin for Gillot, whose pupil Watteau had been. Lancret, who remained a pupil of Gillot from 1712–1713, was heavily influenced by the older painter, whose typical slender figures can be found in many of his pupil's younger works. Two pictures painted by Lancret and exhibited on the
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had a great success, which laid the foundation of his fortune, and, it is said, estranged Watteau, who had been complimented as their author. In 1718 he was received as an Academician, from thereon becoming a very respected artist, especially amongst the admirers of Watteau. He completed works to decorate the
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, while his style was later to prove popular with
Frederick the Great Frederick II (; 24 January 171217 August 1786) was the monarch of Prussia from 1740 until his death in 1786. He was the last Hohenzollern monarch titled ''King in Prussia'', declaring himself ''King of Prussia'' after annexing Royal Prussia ...
. Lancret's popularity was reflected by the decision to make him a councillor at the Academie in 1735.


Work, style and legacy

Lancret completed numerous paintings, a significant proportion of which (over eighty) were engraved. Although he completed several portraits and historical pieces his favourite subjects were balls, fairs, village weddings and so forth. In this respect he was typical of Rococo artists. Some have claimed Lancret's work is significantly inferior to that of Watteau. In drawing and in painting his touch is often considered intelligent but dry; art historian Michael Levey remarked that Lancret was 'no poet but a charming essayist'. Lancret's characteristics are due possibly to the fact that he had been for some time in training under an engraver. It is generally considered that the artist produced his best work towards the latter end of his life, displaying, in the minds of several art historians, an increasing ability to create a sense of harmony between art and nature, as in ''Montreir de lanterne magique'', and a willingness to lend his, now bulkier, figures a firmer place in his compositions. These changes displayed the influence of later Watteaus like ''L'Enseigne de Gersaint''. Lancret's last painting, ''Family in a Garden'', The National Gallery, is considered by Levey to be his 'masterpiece'. The scene, which depicts a family taking coffee, has an intimacy and hint of humour that are considered captivating. The work's flowing lines, Rococoesque harmony of pastel colours, painterly style and charming subject matter (of a wide eyed young girl, surrounded by her happy family and natural, yet un-threatening setting, trying her first taste of coffee) are seen to display a delicate sense of vitality and freshness that anticipate the works of both
Thomas Gainsborough Thomas Gainsborough (; 14 May 1727 (baptised) – 2 August 1788) was an English portrait and landscape painter, draughtsman, and printmaker. Along with his rival Sir Joshua Reynolds, he is considered one of the most important British artists o ...
and
Jean-Honoré Fragonard Jean-Honoré Fragonard (; 5 April 1732 (birth/baptism certificate) – 22 August 1806) was a French painter and printmaker whose late Rococo manner was distinguished by remarkable facility, exuberance, and hedonism. One of the most prolific art ...
. The
British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...
possesses an admirable series of studies by Lancret in red chalk, and the
National Gallery, London The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of more than 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current dire ...
, shows four paintings—the "Four Ages of Man" (engraved by Desplaces and l'Armessin), cited by d'Argenville amongst the principal works of Lancret.


Personal life

Lancret was single for much of his life; however in 1741 he married the 18-year-old grandchild of
Boursault Boursault () is a Communes of France, commune of the Marne (department), Marne Departments of France, department in northeastern France. Population See also *Communes of the Marne department References

Communes of Marne (department ...
, author of ''Aesop at Court''. Supposedly Lancret was induced to marry her after finding her and her dying mother living in poverty in an attic room and hearing that the daughter was soon to be compelled to enter a convent. Lancret died of pneumonia on 14 September 1743.


Gallery

File:Nicolas Lancret - The Servant Justified.JPG, ''La Servante justifiée'', 1735-1740
Metropolitan Museum The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the third-largest museum in the world and the largest art museum in the Americas. With 5.36 million v ...
File:Brother Philippe's Geese MET DT5661.jpg, ''Les oies du père Philippe'', c 1736
Metropolitan Museum The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the third-largest museum in the world and the largest art museum in the Americas. With 5.36 million v ...
File:Legende børn i det frie (Le jeu de quatre-coins).jpg, ''Le jeu des quatre-coins'', Statens Museum for Kunst File:Fastening the Skate (Nicolas Lancret) - Nationalmuseum - 17848.tif, ''Fastening the Skate'',
Nationalmuseum Nationalmuseum is the List of national galleries, national gallery of fine arts of Sweden, located on the peninsula Blasieholmen in central Stockholm. The museum's operations stretch far beyond the borders of Blasieholmen, including the Natio ...
, 1743 File:Nicolas Lancret - le matin.jpg, ''Les Heures du Jour (The Hours of the Day) - le matin''
National Gallery London The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of more than 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current dire ...
File:Nicolas Lancret - le midi.jpg, ''Les Heures du Jour (The Hours of the Day) - le midi'', 1741
National Gallery London The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of more than 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current dire ...
File:Nicolas Lancret - l'apres-dinee.jpg, ''Les Heures du Jour (The Hours of the Day) - l'apres-dinee'', 1741
National Gallery London The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of more than 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current dire ...
File:Nicolas Lancret - la soiree.jpg, ''Les Heures du Jour (The Hours of the Day) - la soiree'', 1741
National Gallery London The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of more than 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current dire ...


References

* * See d'Argenville, ''Vies des peintres''; and Ballot de Sovot, ''Éloge de M. Lancret'' (1743, new ed. 1874).


Further reading


General studies

Adapted from: * * * *


Reference works

* * *


External links

*
Nicolas Lancret at the WikiGallery.org
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lancret, Nicolas 1690 births 1743 deaths 18th-century French painters French male painters Deaths from pneumonia in France 18th-century French male artists