The Progress of Love: Love Letters
Historical Context
The Progress of Love: Love Letters (1771-72), in The Frick Collection, is part of the celebrated series of four paintings that Fragonard created for Madame du Barry's pavilion at Louveciennes. The series traces the course of a love affair from pursuit through declaration to consummation and reflection. Love Letters depicts the exchange of written declarations, rendered in an idyllic garden setting with Fragonard's most accomplished landscape painting. The entire series was rejected by du Barry in favor of more fashionable Neoclassical panels, one of the most consequential rejections in art history. The paintings eventually came to America, where they became the pride of the Frick Collection.
Technical Analysis
The lush garden setting is rendered with extraordinary verdant richness, the towering trees creating a natural bower for the romantic scene. The figures are integrated into the landscape through harmonious color and flowing compositional lines.
