Invention, Resemblance, and Fragonard's Portraits de Fantaisie

Abstract

In this essay, Fragonard's portraits de fantaisie are examined against the contemporaneous definitions of the portrait, the conventions that governed its making in eighteenth-century France, and the assumptions of the various audiences that commissioned and/or looked at works in that genre. The portraits de fantaisie emerge as paintings that subvert the primary function of the portrait; instead of adequately depicting the appearance, rank, and/or character of a sitter, these “portraits” are primarily self-representations of the artist. They are marked by a confounding of the real and the imagined, a deliberate play with portrait conventions, and a conscious display of those qualities which, for Fragonard's contemporaries; made a painting a work of genius.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Mary D. Sheriff

Mary Sheriff wrote her doctoral dissertation on Fragonard (University of Delaware, 1981), on whom she has published other articles and now is preparing a book. Her research is supported by a Getty Postdoctoral Fellowship. [The Department of Art, University of North Carolina, Hanes Art Center 079A, Chapel Hill, NC 27514]