Jean-Baptiste Greuze facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Jean-Baptiste Greuze
Self-portrait (c. 1769, Louvre, Paris)
Born	(1725-08-21)21 August 1725 Tournus, Burgundy, France
Died	4 March 1805(1805-03-04) (aged 79) Louvre, Paris, France

Jean-Baptiste Greuze (born August 21, 1725 – died March 4, 1805) was a famous French painter. He was known for his beautiful portraits, paintings of everyday life (called genre art), and grand history paintings.

Who Was Jean-Baptiste Greuze?

His Early Life and Training

Jean-Baptiste Greuze was born in Tournus, a market town in Burgundy, France. His father did not want him to be a painter. However, an artist from Lyon named Grandon saw Greuze's talent. Grandon convinced Greuze's father to let him study art.

Greuze went with Grandon to Lyon and later to Paris. In Paris, Greuze studied at the Royal Academy. At first, his teachers did not notice him. But when he painted his first important picture, Le Père de famille expliquant la Bible a ses enfants (The Father of the Family Explaining the Bible to His Children), people were amazed.

He soon became well-known for his paintings of family scenes. A famous art collector, La Live de Jully, supported him. In 1755, Greuze showed his painting Aveugle trompé (The Blind Man Deceived). Because of this work, he was accepted into the Academy.

The Guitarist (1757), a painting of a young musician.

Later that year, Greuze traveled to Italy with a friend, Abbé Louis Gougenot. Greuze wanted to prove he could paint in a grand style. But his Italian paintings were not as good as his earlier works. He soon returned to painting the everyday scenes he was best at.

His Relationship with the Academy

From 1759 to 1763, Greuze's paintings became more and more popular. In 1765, he was at the peak of his fame. He showed many works that year, including La Jeune Fille qui pleure son oiseau mort (The Young Girl Weeping Over Her Dead Bird) and La Bonne Mère (The Good Mother).

The Academy asked Greuze to submit a special painting to become a full member. He had put this off for a long time. Greuze wanted to be known as a historical painter, not just a painter of everyday scenes. So, he painted a large historical work called Sévère et Caracalla.

In 1769, the Academy accepted him as a member. However, they told him he was accepted only as a "genre painter" (someone who paints everyday scenes). They said his historical painting was not good enough. Greuze was very angry about this. He stopped showing his art at the Academy's exhibitions. He did not exhibit there again until 1804, after the French Revolution had changed the rules.

Portrait of Benjamin Franklin, 1777.

His Later Years and Legacy

Greuze died in 1805 in the Louvre in Paris. He had once been very wealthy, but he lost his money due to poor choices and his wife's actions. In his final years, he was very poor and struggled to find work.

Greuze's fame came from the types of subjects he painted. He showed everyday life and family dramas, which was a new and exciting idea for art at the time. His paintings were like plays, full of emotion and moral lessons.

His works often had strong lines, fresh colors, and soft, appealing expressions. He made his characters look healthy and youthful. Even though his paintings sometimes felt a little over-the-top, they were very popular.

Many people admired Greuze's work. One of his students, Madame Le Doux, painted in a similar style. His daughter and granddaughter also inherited some of his artistic talent. His granddaughter, Madame de Valory, even wrote a play about him. Many famous engravers of his time made prints of his paintings, helping to spread his art.

Greuze was also the father of another painter, Anna-Geneviève Greuze, who learned from him.

Exhibitions of His Work

In 1976-1977, Edgar Munhall organized the first big exhibition just for Jean-Baptiste Greuze's art. It was shown in Hartford, San Francisco, and Dijon. Later, in 2002, the first exhibition of Greuze's drawings was held in New York.

Images for kids

• Jean-Baptiste Greuze's works
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  The Lazy Boy, 1755

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  Mme Georges Gougenot de Croissy, née Vïrany de Varennes, 1757

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  The Laundress (La Blanchisseuse), 1761

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  Comte d'Angiviller, 1763

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  W. A. Mozart, 1763–64. Yale University

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  Septime Sévère et Caracalla. 1769, Louvre

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  The Father's Curse, 1770

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  Portrait of Count Stroganov as a Child, 1778

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  Broken Eggs, 1756, Metropolitan Museum of Art

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  Jeanne Philiberte Ledoux, c. 1790

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  Nicolas-Pierre-Baptiste Anselme, c. 1790

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  Young girl with blue ribbon, second half of 18th century

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  Portrait of Marquise de Chauvelin, date unknown

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  Le petit mathématicien or The young mathematician, date unknown

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  The hermit or The distributor of rosaries, date unknown

See also

In Spanish: Jean-Baptiste Greuze para niños

Greuze's grave at Montmartre Cemetery in Paris.

Statue of Greuze in Tournus.

• Les Neuf Sœurs
• The Kings' Tart