Dec 21, 2025
1731-1736 Nicolas Lancret - The Beautiful Greek Woman
(Art Institute of Chicago)
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1731-1736 Nicolas Lancret - The Beautiful Greek Woman
(Art Institute of Chicago)
Nicaise by Nicolas Lancret, 1738.
Context: illustration of a poem by Jean de la Fontaine.
The Servant Justified
Artist: Nicolas Lancret (French, 1690–1743)
Date: ca. 1740
Medium: Oil on copper
Collection: The Metropolitan, New York City, NY, United States
Nicolas Lancret (French, 1690-1743) La Camargo Dancing, ca.1730 National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.
Brother Philippe's Geese
Artist:: Nicolas Lancret (French, 1690–1743)
Date: ca. 1736
Medium: Oil on copper
Collection: Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City, NY, United States
Jean de La Fontaine’s Fables include the story of the widower Philippe, who adopts a hermit’s robes and retreats to a mountain cave where he and his son live free from temptation. Eventually, however, Philippe takes his son out into the world and they encounter a party of young women. When the youth asks about them, his father says they are “a party of geese.” “Father, I beg you, let us take one [with us].” Lancret indicated the women’s elevated social status by including the likely enslaved African servant who shades them with a parasol.
Portrait of the Dancer Camargo
Artist: Nicolas Lancret (French, 1690-1743)
Date: Mid-18th century
Medium: Oil on canvas
Collection: The State Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg, Russia
Marie-Anne de Cupis de Camargo
Marie-Anne de Cupis de Camargo (1710–1770), a legendary 18th-century ballerina at the Paris Opéra. She revolutionized ballet by shortening her skirt, adopting flat slippers instead of heeled shoes, and becoming the first woman to execute the entrechat-quatre.
Born in Brussels to a Spanish musician and dance teacher, Marie-Anne de Cupis de Camargo (often called "La Camargo") made her Paris Opéra debut in 1726 and quickly captivated audiences with her speed, agility, and technical precision.
Before her era, female ballet costumes were cumbersome and restrictive, and female dancers rarely performed the intricate footwork typically reserved for men.
Nicolas Lancret, Fête galante représentant une dame dansant avec Pulcinella, détail, huile sur toile, Fondation Bemberg, Toulouse / source photo : @cheminer-poesie-cressant
.
love is a hesitation of life that always oscillates between moderation and madness; the incursion of a star often puts an end to instability
--
l’amour est une hésitation de la vie qui oscille toujours entre la mesure et la folie ; l’incursion d’une étoile fait souvent cesser l’instabilité
--
l'amore è un'esitazione della vita che oscilla sempre tra la misura e la follia; l'incursione di una stella spesso pone fine all'instabilità
.
© Pierre Cressant
(samedi 28 septembre 2024)
