21 Works, Today, January 22th is artist Nicolas Lancret 's day, his story, illustrated #022

Nicolas Lancret

Detail; Concert dans un parc

Oil on canvas

47.5 x 55.5 cm. 

Private collection

Nicolas Lancret (22 January 1690 – 14 September 1743) was a French painter. Born in Paris, he was a brilliant depicter of light comedy which reflected the tastes and manners of French society under the Regent, the Duke of Orleans.

Watteau and Nicolas Lancret

Portrait of Antoine de La Roque

Oil on canvas

46 x 54.5 cm.

Tokyo, Fuji Art Museum.

Lancret worked, howsoever briefly, in Watteau’s shop and his earliest independent paintings show a greater bond with Watteau than had been supposed.

Lancret’s first master was Pierre d'Ulin, but his acquaintance with and admiration for Antoine Watteau induced him to leave Ulin for Claude Gillot, whose pupil Watteau had been. Lancret, who remained a pupil of Gillot from 1712–1713, was heavily influenced by the older painter, whose typical slender figures can be found in many of his pupil's younger works. 

Nicolas Lancret

Conversation galante

Oil on canvas

68.3 x 53.5 cm

The Wallace Collection, London

Two pictures painted by Lancret and exhibited on the Place Dauphine had a great success, which laid the foundation of his fortune, and, it is said, estranged Watteau, who had been complimented as their author. In 1718 he was received as an Academician, from thereon becoming a very respected artist, especially amongst the admirers of Watteau. He completed works to decorate the Palace of Versailles, while his style was later to prove popular with Frederick the Great. Lancret's popularity was reflected by the decision to make him a councillor at the Academie in 1735.

The Four Seasons, commissioned directly by the French diplomat Jean-François Lériget de la Faye at a momentous point in the young artist's career. While the paintings still exhibit the influence of his mentor, Antoine Watteau, their magnificent quality undoubtedly helped to establish Lancret's name as an independent master.  

Nicolas Lancret (Paris 1690 - 1743)

The Four Seasons, Spring, c. 1719–21

Oil on canvas

115.9 x 95 cm

The State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg

Nicolas Lancret (Paris 1690 - 1743)

The Four Seasons, Summer, c. 1719–21

Oil on canvas

115.9 x 95 cm

The State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg

Nicolas Lancret (Paris 1690 - 1743)

The Four Seasons, Autumn, c. 1719–21

Oil on canvas

115.9 x 95 cm

Private collection

Nicolas Lancret (Paris 1690 - 1743)

The Four Seasons, Winter, c. 1719–21

Oil on canvas

45 1/4 by 37 in .; 115 by 94 cm.

Private collection

Lancret's allegory of  Winter  depicts the everyday pleasures of upper-class society in early 18th-century France, set in a stately  Régence  interior. A group of figures are gathered in a refined drawing room; a fire lit in the background and fur-lined overgowns worn by the elegant ladies identify the season as winter. A card game is taking place at the table; some players are discussing strategy while others seem lost in thought, and the woman sitting at the center looks directly out at the viewer rather than at her hand. Two women nearby are reading a score while a third stands behind them, seemingly humming along. The young lady in the foreground entertains a kitten, while an older woman sits by the fire in the background, a small dog in her lap. More on this painting

Lancret completed numerous paintings, a significant proportion of which (over eighty) were engraved. Although he completed several portraits and historical pieces his favourite subjects were balls, fairs, village weddings and so forth. In this respect he was typical of Rococo artists. Some have claimed Lancret's work is significantly inferior to that of Watteau. In drawing and in painting his touch is often considered intelligent but dry; art historian Michael Levey remarked that Lancret was 'no poet but a charming essayist'. Lancret's characteristics are due possibly to the fact that he had been for some time in training under an engraver.

Nicolas Lancret

Concert dans un parc

Oil on canvas

47.5 x 55.5 cm. 

Private collection

It is generally considered that the artist produced his best work towards the latter end of his life, displaying, in the minds of several art historians, an increasing ability to create a sense of harmony between art and nature, as in Montreir de lanterne magique, and a willingness to lend his, now bulkier, figures a firmer place in his compositions. 

Nicolas Lancret  (1690–1743)

A Lady and Gentleman Taking Coffee with Children in a Garden, probably 1742

Oil on canvas

88.9 × 97.8 cm (35 × 38.5 in)

National Gallery, Central London

These changes displayed the influence of later Watteaus like L'Enseigne de Gersaint. Lancret's last painting, Family in a Garden, The National Gallery, is considered by Levey to be his 'masterpiece'. The scene, which depicts a family taking coffee, has an intimacy and hint of humour that are considered captivating. The work's flowing lines, Rococoesque harmony of pastel colours, painterly style and charming subject matter (of a wide eyed young girl, surrounded by her happy family and natural, yet un-threatening setting, trying her first taste of coffee) are seen to display a delicate sense of vitality and freshness that anticipate the works of both Thomas Gainsborough and Jean-Honoré Fragonard.

Lancret, Nicolas, (1690-1743)

The Four Ages of Man: Childhood (L'Enfance), ca 1735

Oil on canvas

National Gallery, London

In Childhood (L'Enfance), a group of wealthy children play boisterous games in an open-air loggia watched by their nurse and governess.

Lancret, Nicolas, (1690-1743)

The Four Ages of Man: Adolescence (L’Adolescence), ca 1735

Oil on canvas

National Gallery, London

In Adolescence (L’Adolescence), a young woman admires herself in a mirror while her hair is decorated with ribbons and flowers.

Lancret, Nicolas, (1690-1743)

The Four Ages of Man: Youth (La Jeunesse), ca 1735

Oil on canvas

National Gallery, London

Instead of depicting the third age as a time of maturity and showing a middle-aged married couple, Lancret paints several pairs of lovers in a woody glade.

Lancret, Nicolas, (1690-1743)

The Four Ages of Man: Old Age (La Vieillesse), ca 1735

Oil on canvas

National Gallery, London

In Old Age (La Vieillesse), Lancret,dispenses with the usual depiction of old people warming themselves indoors before an open fire to take the scene outdoors.

For more on the Four Ages of Man

Nicolas Lancret made a set of paintings depicting the four elements for one of his most important patrons. The two depicting children playing with air and water are now at Waddesdon (acc. nos 2490.1-2). The other two paintings are now in Madrid and Rome.

Nicolas Lancret

The Four Elements, The Earth, c. 1730-1732

Oil on canvas

38 x 31 cm

Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid

Nicolas Lancret

The Four Elements, Air, c. 1730-1732

Oil on canvas

38 x 31 cm

Waddesdon Manor

Circle of Nicolas Lancret (Paris 1690-1743)

The Four Elements, Fire, c. 1730-1732

Oil on canvas

35½ x 47 3/8 in. (90.2 x 120.3 cm.)

Private collection

Attributed to Nicolas Lancret (Paris 1690-1743)

The Four Elements, Water, c. 1730-1732

Oil on canvas

25¼ x 21 in. (64 x 53.3 cm.)

Private collection

The British Museum possesses an admirable series of studies by Lancret in red chalk, and the National Gallery, London, shows four paintings—the "Four Ages of Man" (engraved by Desplaces and l'Armessin), cited by d'Argenville amongst the principal works of Lancret.

Lancret, Nicolas, (1690-1743)

The Four Times of Day: Morning, c. 1741

Oil on copper

National Gallery, London

Lancret, Nicolas, (1690-1743)

The Four Times of Day: Midday, c. 1741

Oil on copper

National Gallery, London

Lancret, Nicolas, (1690-1743)

The Four Times of Day: Afternoon, c. 1741

Oil on copper

National Gallery, London

Lancret, Nicolas, (1690-1743)

The Four Times of Day: Evening, c. 1741

Oil on copper

National Gallery, London

Lancret also painted a series on The Four Times of Day. Series of prints were popular with the public. Painting series of pictures was something of a speciality for Lancret – he had already produced The Four Seasons in about 1719, The Four Elements by August 1732, and The Four Ages of Man (also in the National Gallery’s collection) by July 1735. The Four Times of Day was complete by February 1741.

Circle of Nicolas Lancret (Paris 1690-1743)

Portrait of a lady and gentleman, as Venus and Adonis, in a wooded landscape

Oil on canvas

32¼ x 40 in. (81.9 x 101.6 cm.)

Private collection

Lancret was single for much of his life; however in 1741 he married the 18-year-old grandchild of Boursault, author of Aesop at Court. Supposedly Lancret was induced to marry her after finding her and her dying mother living in poverty in an attic room and hearing that the daughter was soon to be compelled to enter a convent. Lancret died of pneumonia on 14 September 1743. More on Nicolas Lancret

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