Fragonard and Vermeer

Marina Nebro

November 16, 2013

Art History 220: Term Paper The Love Letter VS. Young Woman with a Water Pitcher

Genre painting and artwork took the vernacular style of religious works and introduced it to images and narratives of every day life. The main goal behind genre scenes is for the viewer to relate to the figures within. The vernacular style plays to the viewer’s sensibilities and allows for the artist to get certain messages or meanings across. Fragonard’s The Love Letter and Vermeer’s Young Woman with a Water Pitcher both carry iconographic and iconological values, though they differ due to the artists’ locations and time periods. The artists’ paintings styles differ dramatically. Jean Honoré Fragonard was a French painter during the Rococo period of art. This era was known for its ephemeral, light, and flirty quality. The Love Letter compliments the style of the time, as the brush strokes are strong and visible. Most of the detail is centered on the main figure, while the outskirts and fringes of the canvas remain almost unfinished looking with their brown under-layer of paint. In Johannes Vermeer’s Young Woman with a Water Pitcher, the brush strokes are hardly noticeable. All the colors are well blended, and there is uniformity to the saturation and hue throughout the canvas. Unlike the Rococo era, Vermeer worked during the Baroque period, which was known for its strength and stability. Vermeer used mostly primary colors – red, yellow, and blue – to ground the scene, while Fragonard mainly utilizes soft and unsaturated pastel colors, which, again, heighten the flirty and fleeting nature of the time.

On a side note, many Northern European painters were very influenced by optics. As early as the Northern Renaissance, artists such as Jan van Eyck included convex mirrors in their works to convey their scientific savvy. Vermeer, though painting later than van Eyck, similarly displays his understanding of light and reflection. It is believed that he used a camera obscura, a precursor to later photographic techniques, which projected images onto a wall or canvas to better aid painters in depicting detail. If looked at carefully, details such as the highlights on the pearls and on the metal water pitcher can be seen. Such intricate detail is not, however, visible in Fragonard’s work. Despite having been painted in drastically different times, both paintings have several features in common. Both artists employed the use of oil paint, allowing them the possibility of rich colors and intricate detail. The light source for each of the oil paintings is similar, as the window illuminates the scene from the left side of the canvas. Though accomplished differently, this light highlights the main figure in the piece. Fragonard highlights his leading lady by adding color and white to her figure to contrast with the darker brown of the room, and Vermeer uses the contrast of lights and darks, or a subtle chiaroscuro, to emphasize the woman’s features. His shadows, though, aren’t completely dark, as he employs the use of dark blue instead of black, which enables him to further strengthen the foundation and harmony of the piece. The differences and similarities do not just end in the form and composition of the paintings. The iconographic or narrative elements of the pieces are greatly contrasting as well. As mentioned above, the Rococo period is fraught with

flirtatious imagery. Other works by Fragonard, such as The Swing, show the intense, yet latent or suppressed, sexual desires of the aristocratic class. In The Love Letter, similar themes arise. The Metropolitan Museum of Art is adamant in creating the distinction between portraiture and genre painting. This particular image is described as not being a portrait because of its narrative elements.1 The viewer interrupts the young woman, as she seems to sniff and enjoy her bouquet of flowers, holding the secret letter of an admirer in her hands. She acknowledges the voyeur with a coy gaze, almost tauntingly with the knowledge of who her lover is. Her body is hunched over her writing desk, further hiding what she wants to keep from us. There is a strong parallel between her figure and the fluffy mass that is her dog. Both stare at the viewer with a strong gaze, both are positioned in a protective way, as if to hide something. Dogs often symbolize companionship and loyalty. Perhaps the dog, here, represents the loyalty she has to her secret and hidden admirer. Vermeer’s young lady, unlike the flirtatious beast in The Love Letter, does not pay any attention to the onlooker. She is completely distracted and engulfed in her household chores – she opens the window at the break of dawn while getting the house clean and ready for the coming day. Surrounding her in the quite plain space are objects of great interest. The first item of note, as the title implies, is the silver water pitcher as it shimmers in the morning sun. Underneath the valuable pitcher is an oriental rug, doubling as a tablecloth. On the far right of the canvas, one can see a string of pearls emerging from what seems to be a jewelry box. All of these objects depict and symbolize the wealth of the Dutch people at this time. With 1

Wall Plaque – Metropolitan Museum of Art

exploration, shown in this image through the use of a map hanging on the wall, the people of the Netherlands were able to experience the riches of the world. Both of these strong female characters are contemporary figures at the time when Fragonard and Vermeer were painting. They are not conveying a long lost ideal of Greco-Roman beauty or religious purity. The women are harkening to a modern archetype. In an attempt to explain the cultural context in a lucid manner, it is necessary to now first mention Vermeer’s painting, which was completed in 1662. Though quite after the Protestant Reformation, the work of Vermeer coincided with the Baroque era, known for its strong relationship with the Counter or Catholic Reformation. In Northern Europe at the time, specifically in the Netherlands, the religion of choice and preference was Protestantism. Vermeer’s Young Woman with a Water Pitcher plays to the contemporary Protestant ideal. She displays the Protestant work ethic, as she busies herself with household chores. She is modest, as she doesn’t address the viewer or painter, and instead keeps to herself. She does, however, display wealth, riches, and knowledge – consequences and effects of said work ethic. According to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Vermeer has painted the ideal woman of the home.2 This image, viewed by contemporary Netherlandish women, should have influenced them to be better mothers, housewives, and Protestants. Fragonard’s The Love Letter, completed around the year 1770, is part of an art era that rejected the strength and power of the Baroque. There was always tension between the church or religious power and the secular, royal, and noble 2

Wall Plaque – Metropolitan Museum of Art

powers. The Rococo era was a reaction to the strong, heavy-handed power of the church and of the king – this would have been Louis XIV in France. First of all, the Sun King’s successors were hardly as charismatic and powerful as he was. The nobility were gaining power by the day. The Rococo period was an art period for the aristocracy. Focus was taken away from power and control, and put more towards love, fun, and frivolousness. Unlike Vermeer’s young woman, the protagonist in Fragonard’s work isn’t as much of a model or ideal woman as she is a fantasy. At first glance, the subjects of the paintings by Fragonard and Vermeer may seem quite similar – lone women preoccupied by feminine activities. On a deeper level, though, it is obvious that both artworks convey greater meaning about contemporary and modern society. These two paintings conflict and contrast greatly due to their time and geographic disparity. Both, however, are great contributions to the vernacular style of genre painting.