“Buffet”, Jean Baptiste Simeon Chardin – description of the painting
Description of the picture:
Buffet – Jean Baptiste Simeon Chardin. 1728. Oil on canvas. 100 ninety four x 100 20 nine cm
In one thousand seven hundred and twenty-eight years, Jean Baptiste Simeon Chardin is elected a member of the Royal Academy of Painting. It was an unprecedented case when such a young painter (and Chardin at that time was only 20 eight years old) received recognition – usually membership in the Academy was considered the logical result of the creative path of mature professional masters. In order to get such a place of honor, the painter had to submit two paintings to the tribunal of acting academics. They became “Scat” and “Buffet.”
The plot of the canvas “Buffet” was determined not only by the imagination of the creator, but also met certain requirements. Chardin was a candidate member of the Academy as a painter of “animals and fruits.” Therefore, in his own “genre scene” (as the painter called his work) “Buffet”, not counting the table with various delicacies and dishes, the painter also depicted a dog.
The spectrum of the painting is characteristic of Chardin – hazel, woody colors. Even the dog is depicted in a brown polter. But contrasting colors against the background of the main look expressively and brightly – a pyramid of burgundy apples and a white tablecloth. Charden depicted on the left a source of light that the viewer does not see, but, we notice it on a sparkling tablecloth and fruit shined with the sun. What a filigree nuance! It is logical that the Impressionists were so enthusiastic about Chardin.
On the table, not counting fruits, you can see glass jugs, bowls, a frying pan, half-peeled orange, etc. Simple dishes attracted the attention of the dog. Playful, curious, he raised a sharp-nosed face, smelling something delicious. Chardin came out with a very sweet and spiritual plot, not devoid of dynamism.
Still life in those days was attributed to the “low” genres, putting in first place paintings on mythological and historical subjects. Chardin, on the contrary, tried to defend a worthy place for his beloved still life. And he did it with the only true method – he wrote in such a way that almost any of his paintings was constantly accompanied by commendable reviews."