Examine drawings and paintings by the eighteenth century French artist, discusses the themes and style of his work, and reviews what is known about his life.

A fresh interpretation of the group of Fragonard?s paintings known as the ?figures de fantaisie?, Fragonard and the Fantasy Figure: Painting the Imagination reconnects the fantasy figures with neglected visual traditions in European art and firmly situates them within the cultural and aesthetic contexts of eighteenth-century France. Prior scholarship has focused on the paintings? connections with portraiture, whereas this study relocates them within a tradition of fantasy figures, where resemblance was ignored or downplayed. The book defines Fragonard as a painter of the imagination and foregrounds the imaginary at a time when Enlightenment rationalism and Classical aesthetics contrived to delimit the imagination. The book unravels scholarly writing on these Fragonard paintings and examines the history of the fantasy figure from early modern Europe to eighteenth-century France. Emerging from this background is a view of Fragonard turning away from the academically sanctioned ?invention?, towards more playful variants of the imaginary: fantasy and caprice. Melissa Percival demonstrates how fantasy figures engage both artists and viewers, allowing artists to unleash their imagination through displays of virtuosity and viewers to use their imagination to explore the paintings? unusual juxtapositions and humour.

One of the most forward-looking artists of the eighteenth century, Jean Honoré Fragonard (1732–1806) was a virtuoso draftsman whose works on paper count among the great achievements of his time. This book showcases Fragonard's mastery and experimentation in a range of media, from vivid red chalk to luminous brown wash, as well as etching, watercolor, and gouache. With essays that focus on the role of drawing in his creative process and provide a modern reevaluation of his graphic work, the book offers fresh perspectives on this innovative and independent artist, who began his career in the Rococo era but lived through and adapted to changing times in France, and who chose to leave the more defined path of official patronage in order to work for private clients. Unlike many earlier painters who used drawings primarily as preparatory tools, Fragonard explored their potential as works of art in their own right, ones that permitted him to work with great freedom and allowed his genius to shine. The 100 featured works come from New York collections, public and private, balancing a mix of well-loved masterpieces, new discoveries, and works that have long been out of the public eye. Fragonard: Drawing Triumphant illuminates the approach of a ceaselessly inventive artist whose draftsmanship was at the core of his remarkable body of work.

Discusses the major painters and sculptors of the period during the last years of France's ancien regime - a period that started with Watteau and the fete galante and closed with the revolutionary history paintings of David.

First published in 1997. For this second edition of Art Books: A Basic Bibliography of Monographs on Artists, the vast number of new books published since 1985 was surveyed and evaluated. This has resulted in the selection of 3,395 additional titles. These selections, reflective of the increase in the monographic literature on artists during the last ten years, are evidence of the activities of a larger number of art historians in more countries worldwide, of the increasingly diverse and ambitious exhibition programs of museums whose number has also increased dramatically, and also of a lively international art market and the attendant gallery activities. The selections of the first edition have been reviewed, errors have been corrected and important new editions and reprints have been noted. The second edition contains 278 names of artists not represented in the first edition.

Dore Ashton has updated the bibliography and added a new concluding chapter to her classic study of the paintings and drawings of Philip Guston, the only study of his work completely authorized by the artist. Philip Guston (1913-1980) was one of the most independent of the painters whose work was loosely linked by the term "abstract expressionism" during the 1950s, and he baffled admirers of his lushly beautiful abstract expressionist paintings by moving abruptly in mid-career to gritty figurative paintings in an almost cartoon-like style. One of the few critics who saw this at the time as a progressive development in his work was Dore Ashton, who here analyzes Guston's paintings and drawings in the context of the cultural milieu in which he worked, illuminating the dilemma facing artists who try to live with, understand, and express both the ideals of art and the reality of the world. Dore Ashton has updated the bibliography and added a new concluding chapter to her classic study of the paintings and drawings of Philip Guston, the only study of his work completely authorized by the artist. Philip Guston (1913-1980) was one of the most independent of the painters whose work was loosely linked by the term "abstract expressionism" during the 1950s, and he baffled admirers of his lushly beautiful abstract expressionist paintings by moving abruptly in mid-career to gritty figurative paintings in an almost cartoon-like style. One of the few critics who saw this at the time as a progressive development in his work was Dore Ashton, who here analyzes Guston's paintings and drawings in the context of the cultural milieu in which he worked, illuminating the dilemma facing artists who try to live with, understand, and express both the ideals of art and the reality of the world.

"Fragonard" by Haldane MacFall is a brief biography of Fragonard. The book tells about his upbringing, his trip to Italy, his relationship with his mentor Boucher, and his refusal to succumb to the seduction of the Italian style. The book also discusses the Dutch school's influence on Fragonard's paintings and sheds some light on the difficulties Fragonard faced during the French Revolution.

A study of the works of Jean-Honore Fragonard (1732-1806). The author reveals the extent to which Fragonard's paintings were informed by such diverse artists as Rembrandt and Ruisdael, Pietro da Cortona and Solimena, Rubens and Jordaens. The text offers an account of the artist's life and work.