The Visit to the Nursery
Jean Honoré Fragonard·c. 1775
Historical Context
The Visit to the Nursery, painted around 1775, reflects the era's new emphasis on family life and maternal sentiment influenced by Rousseau's writings on education and childhood. Fragonard, himself a father, brought genuine warmth to these domestic subjects. The painting's intimate scale and informal composition contrast sharply with the grand public art of the Academy, representing the private sphere that increasingly attracted both artists and collectors.
Technical Analysis
Fragonard renders the intimate domestic scene with his characteristic golden palette and fluid brushwork. The figures are softly modeled with warm tones, while fabrics and furnishings are suggested with quick, deft strokes. The gentle, diffused lighting creates a warm, intimate atmosphere appropriate to the nursery setting.
Provenance
Traditionally associated with the collection of Jean François Leroy de Sennéville [1715-1784], Paris; (his sale, Chariot and Paillet at Hôtel de Bullion, Paris, 5-11 April 1780, no. 50, bought in); (his sale, Paillet, Paris, 26 April 1784, no. 26); purchased by Basan, Paris. possibly Madame Goman, Paris; (her sale, Le Brun and Julliot, Paris, 6 February 1792 and days following, no. 100); Le Brun. possibly Amédée Constantin, Paris; (his estate sale, at his residence by Pérignon, Paris, 18 November 1816, no. 365); bought in or purchased by Pérignon.[1] possibly purchased 1851 by the father of Jules Burat; by inheritance to Jules Burat, by 1883; (his estate sale, Galerie Georges Petit, Paris, 28-29 April 1885, no. 71, bought in); probably by inheritance to Madame Louis Burat, Paris, by 1907 until at least 1921.[2] (Wildenstein & Co., Paris, New York, and London), by 1939;[3] sold 1942 to the Samuel H. Kress Foundation, New York.[4] [1] See the discussion of the early provenance by Richard Rand in Philip Conisbee et al., _French Paintings of the Fifteenth through the Eighteenth Century_, The Collections of the National Gallery of Art Systematic Catalogue, Washington, D.C., 2009: no. 37, 182-187. [2] The painting was lent by Mme Burat to 1907 and 1921 exhibitions in Paris; it was not included in Mme Burat's sale at Galerie Charpentier in Paris on 17 June 1937. [3] The painting was exhibited at Wildenstein's, New York, in 1939. [4] See also The Kress Collection Digital Archive, https://kress.nga.gov/Detail/objects/2355.
