The crossroads between two schools, that of neoclassicism and that of Rococo, Fragonard will propel gallant painting in salons and exhibitions. For this he will realize two major and fundamental works, The lock and The Kiss on the stealth.
Jean-Honoré Fragonard was born in 1732 in Grasse, France. He was trained by Chardin then Boucher, two great names in French and European painting, in history painting. His work was quickly recognized and he won the Prix de Rome in 1752. From 1756 to 1761, he made his first trip to Italy. Shortly after his return to France, in 1765, he was admitted to the Academy. But Fragonard flees recognition, he does not seek fame, to such an extent that he will refuse to be a royal painter. He therefore returned to Italy, this second trip was to be decisive in the work of Jean-Honoré Fragonard. Inspired by the painting of great Italian masters, between the chiaroscuro of Caravaggio and the sfumato of Da Vinci, he will quickly abandon history painting for gallant painting. The gallant painting draws its origins and themes from the gallant festivals. Indeed at the death of Louis XIV in 1715, the king’s court will abandon the splendor of Versailles and its emblematic festivals for more intimate and less official celebrations, organized in the aristocratic houses of Paris. These festivals are called gallant festivals or country festivals and will last until 1770. Thus, gallant painting is the very allegory of this letting go and this relaxation of morals. But the sensual, fast and decorative style of Fragonard will be criticized by these pairs. If Fragonard is a Rococo painter, society sees only through classical codes and historical painting. Thus the work of Jean-Honoré Fragonard will be temporarily forgotten between revolution and neoclassicism. Fragonard’s gallant work is embodied in two major works, The lock and The Secret Kiss. What these two works have in common is that they are gallant, non-historical paintings. They both deal with a similar subject, sensuality and even sexuality. In contrast, these two masterpieces are opposed in many ways. Indeed, although their subject matter is the same, it is treated in a radically opposite way.
The lock was carried out by the master upstream of the Fuck on the sly. This painting was commissioned from him by the Marquis de Véri. Fragonard, freshly returned from Italy, and still under the influence of what he saw there, will create this painting with lots of color and warmth like the Italian paintings. The scene depicted is overflowing with passion. At the time this painting is painted, France is living through an era rocked by the knowledge and philosophy of the Enlightenment. The hierarchy of genres imposed by the Academy also leaves more and more room for genre painting, where formerly only sacred painting and history painting seemed to have no interest. Thus began the Rococo movement. This context is strongly felt in The lock, the scene takes place in a bedroom, which leaves no doubt as to the sequel to come. In addition, the man is painted in his underwear which suggests that the foreplay is already underway. The man tries to close the lock of the door, the woman performs the same movement as the man but seems on the contrary to want to prevent him from closing the lock. The scene is in love with a fiery eroticism but a question remains and is debated, is this a love scene or a rape scene?
The lock, by Jean-Honoré Fragonard
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The Secret Kiss him, inspires us a more chaste and more bourgeois than the initial painting. The scene takes place here in an anteroom, a place of passage; the man seems to be dressed appropriately and the eroticism is much more shy. Indeed in the scene which is painted here, the man steals a kiss from the woman but the sexuality of the scene is not imposed on the spectator. With both protagonists dressed and in an open space, the audience is free to imagine what may have happened before or what could potentially happen after. The sensuality is here more subjective and less frontal, Fragonard offers us the leisure of a mind game around the question of the sexuality of the two lovers. The signs of eroticism are easy to guess and are not directly exposed. Take the example of the open drawer in the foreground letting ribbons spring out, it can suggest an opening, a certain eroticism. Or the Athenian in the foreground, at that time the fact of rinsing after the act was considered an act of contraception, so we can assume the usefulness for the young woman to have an Athenian by her side. So many suggestions without affirmation on the part of Jean-Honoré Fragonard.
The Secret Kiss, by Jean-Honoré Fragonard
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The Secret Kiss was thus a much less controversial work than The lock, even though the subject was identical. This shows us that the good treatment of the subject is essential as regards the opinion that the general public and the professionals of the market will have of it, namely here art critics. Fragonard, after the criticisms received for The lock, understood this well and offered us a second, more chaste and more moral version of human impulses: The stolen fuck. Can we consider that The Secret Kiss is actually a repentance of the masterpiece The lock ?
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