a-l-ancien-regime: Jean-Honore Fragonard 1732-1806 Blindman’s Buff (Le Colin-Maillard) ca. 1775-80 O
a-l-ancien-regime: Jean-Honore Fragonard 1732-1806 Blindman’s Buff (Le Colin-Maillard) ca. 1775-80 Oil on canvas Fragonard worked in the studio of François Boucher, who painted Lovers in a Park. Although he was accepted into the French Academy, he choose not to pursue a public career as a history painter. Preferring instead to work for private clients, Fragonard developed a style that lauded the charm and beauty of the private moments. In Blindman’s Buff, well-dressed men, women, and children play the familiar game in the kind of picturesque overgrown garden. Fragonard’s favorite subject, he may have viewed the games as symbolizing the game of courtship. Despite some disagreement over its precise date, it is generally assumed that Blindman’s Buff was painted after the artist’s second journey to Italy in 1773–74. Timken Museum of Art, San Diego, California -- source link