Jean-François de Troy
Jean-François de Troy | |
---|---|
Joseph Aved, 1734 | |
Born | |
Died | 26 January 1752 | (aged 72)
Known for | Painting |
Jean-François de Troy (27 January 1679, Paris – 26 January 1752, Rome) was a French Rococo easel and fresco painter, draughtsman and tapestry designer. One of France's leading history painters in his time, he was equally successful with his decorative paintings, genre scenes and portraits. He was the inventor of the tableaux de modes ('paintings of fashions'), which attempted to provide a spirited portrayal of contemporary fashions, pastimes and manners.[1][2]
He was the Director of the French Academy in Rome from 1738.[3]
Life
He was a scion of a family of painters. His father was the portrait painter François de Troy (1645–1730). His father was his first teacher. After he failed to win the Prix de Rome, he went at his father's expense to Italy from 1699 to 1706. He stayed initially in Rome, where he was given a room at the French Academy. He also visited northern Italian cities. He was at the same time aggregated and admitted to the Académie royale de peinture et de sculpture in July 1708, presumably on the strength of his composition Niobe and her Children (Musée Fabre) but certainly not without a little help of his father who was then the director of that institution.[4][5]
He undertook commissions for the
De Troy was twice ennobled in his lifetime, the first time when he bought the office of the secrétaire du roi ('secretary to the King') and a second time on the award of the ordre de Saint Michel. According to contemporary reports he lived a luxurious life style in Rome and entertained guests from the higher social circles in Rome.[5]
De Troy met tragedy in his personal life: his wife died at a young age and all of his seven children died before him. He passed away on 26 January 1752 in Rome.
Work
General
Jean François de Troy forged a successful career with his large-formate historical and allegorical compositions. His history paintings and
During his residence in Rome, de Troy was also active as a fresco painter. He made a fresco in the north aisle of the ancient basilica Santi Bonifacio ed Alessio depicting Saint Gerolamo Emiliani introducing orphans to the Virgin.[3]
Tableaux de mode
His modern reputation relies less on his large history and mythological paintings than on his smaller, (
While Watteau's 'fête galantes' were filled with a sense of mystery and timelessness, de Troy's tableaux de mode were intended to provide a more realistic depiction of contemporary fashions, pastimes and manners. He was able to capture in these compositions the more relaxed behavior of the higher social classes following the death of
These compositions are believed to be based on de Troy's personal experiences as he was an active member of the fashionable world he depicted.[4] The closeness to Watteau is evidenced by the fact that his The Alarm, or the Gouvernante Fidèle (1723, Victoria and Albert Museum, London) was attributed to Watteau in the 19th century.
De Troy’s tableaux de mode responded to the artistic preferences of a new clientele for art in France: successful bankers and financiers representing a new bourgeois class. They also reflected the developing taste for a new sensuality, which was taken even further during the second half of the 17th century in the libertine philosophy and in texts such as
Tapestry designs
Jean-François de Troy produced the designs for two sets of tapestries which were woven by the
Selected paintings
- The Metropolitan Museum of Art)
- The Metropolitan Museum of Art)
- Before the Ball (1735, Getty Center)
- Charlottenburg Palace)
- champagne.[7]
- The Metropolitan Museum of Art)
- A Hunting Meal (1737, Musée du Louvre, Paris)
References
- ^ a b c d Jean François de Troy, The Alarm, or the Gouvernante Fidèle at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London
- ^ a b Jean François de Troy, Paris, 1679 – Rome, 1752 at the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum
- ^ a b c d Laurie G. Winters. "Troy, de." Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online. Oxford University Press. Web. 6 May. 2016
- ^ a b Everett Fahy, Jayne Wrightsman, The Wrightsman Pictures, Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2005, pp. 162–166
- ^ a b c d e Denise Amy Baxter, "Fashions of sociability in Jean-François de Troy's tableaux de mode, 1725–1738", in: Alden Cavanaugh, ed., Performing the "Everyday": the culture of genre in the eighteenth century, University of Delaware Press, 2007, p. 28-46
- ^ Memorie per servire alla storia della romana Accademia di San Luca by Melchiorre Missirini, page 221.
- ^
D. & P. Kladstrup, Champagne, pg 41,
Harper Collins Publisher, ISBN 0-06-073792-1.
Literature
Christophe Leribault, Jean-François de Troy, 1679–1752, Éditions Arthena, 2002, (
External links
- Media related to Category:Jean-François de Troy at Wikimedia Commons
- Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 27 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 314.