Jean-Honore Fragonard

Painter, printmaker, draughtsman and museum official, Jean-Honoré Fragonard was born in Grasse in 1732. He moved, with his family, in 1738 to Paris where he spent some time as a pupil of Jean-Siméon Chardin. Fragonard entered Boucher’s studio in 1749 and probably remained there for about a year.

Fragonard entered the competition for the Prix de Rome in 1752, relying on Boucher’s influence, as Fragonard was not a pupil of the Académie Royale. His winning entry “Jeroboam Sacrificing to the Idols” actually shows little of Boucher’s teachings.