Name Etienne Jeaurat | ||
 | ||
Discover French painters # Etienne Jeaurat
Etienne Jeaurat (9 February 1699, Vermenton – 14 December 1789, Versailles) was a French painter, above all remembered for his lively street scenes.
Contents
Early life
Born in Vermenton near Auxerre, Jeaurat became an orphan at an early age. His brother, the engraver Edme Jeaurat, entrusted him to Nicolas Vleughels, a friend of Antoine Watteau, who was appointed director of the Academie de France in Rome in 1724. Vleughels took Jeaurat to Rome for an extended stay, exerting considerable influence on his work.
Career
After returning to Paris, Jearat became a member of the Royal Academy in 1733. In 1737, he first exhibited at the Salon des Artistes at the Louvre, then not a museum but a palace. He continued to exhibit his work on a regular basis there until 1789. At the Academy, Jeaurat was elevated to professor (1737) and chancelier (1781) while he also became the guardian of the king's collection of paintings in Versailles from 1767. He achieved considerable success from his historical and mythological workss, his portraits and still lifes, often emulating the style of Chardin. But it was above all his genre paintings which attracted interest. He was particularly adept at painting lively scenes in the streets of Paris such as La Conduite des filles de joie a la Salpetriere, lorsqu'elles passent par la Porte St-Bernard (1755) showing prostitutes being transported to the Salpetriere prison. He also painted a series of eight works depicting scenes from La Fontaine's fables as well as religious works.