Happy Lovers
c. 1751–1755
Jean-Honoré Fragonard (French, 1732-1806)
On View

The pleasure-loving character of the Rococo is joyously expressed in this delightful painting by Fragonard. A young couple enjoys the seclusion of a rustic retreat. Branches, leaves, and flowers form an embroidered arbor around the pair that contributes to the frivolity of the scene. Fragonard’s tactile brushwork creates a voluptuous surface that complements the subject. The pretty young girl plays the temptress to the boy who is the willing object of her affection. Above his head, she dangles a birdcage, its door already ajar. As a symbol both moralizing and erotic, the birdcage carried implications for the dalliance between the young couple that would have been easily recognizable to its eighteenth-century audience.

Details

  • Artist Name: Jean-Honoré Fragonard (French, 1732-1806)
  • Title: Happy Lovers
  • Date: c. 1751–1755
  • Medium: Oil on canvas
  • Dimensions: 35-1/2 x 47-3/4 in. (90.2 x 121.3 cm)
  • Credit Line: The Norton Simon Foundation
  • Accession Number: F.1965.1.021.P
  • Copyright: © The Norton Simon Foundation

Object Information

Hippolyte-Pol Poitevin, Officer of the Legion of Honor, Paris.
[E. Gimpel & Wildenstein, Paris and New York in April, 1917, sold same year to];
Judge Elbert H. Gary (c. 1889–1927), New York, still in 15 June 1918.
Mrs. Lewis Nixon (née Sally Lewis Wood, 1891–1937), New York, sold 1935 to;
[Duveen Bros., New York, stock no. 29712, as The Happy Lovers/The Bird Cage/Les amants heureux, sold 1965 to];
The Norton Simon Foundation.

A Loan Exhibition of French Paintings, XVII-XX Centuries

  • Detroit Institute of Arts, 1947-03-06 to 1947-03-30
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  • Sarphie, Suzanne, Scripps College Bulletin,ill. pp. 20-22
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  • Gimpel, René, Journal d'un collectionneur, marchand de tableaux, p. 48
  • Davies, Florence, The Detroit News,ill. p. 18
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  • Gill, Sarah, The Critic Sees: A Guide to Art Criticism,fig. 2-6 p. 27
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  • Murphy, Edward, The New York Times Magazine,ill.
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  • La Farge, H., Art News, pp. 13-14
  • Charles Scribner's Sons, Europe 1450-1789: An Encyclopedia of the Early Modern World, p. 370
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  • Goodman, Elise, Simiolus,fig. 23 pp. 263 and 265
  • Molotiu, Andrei, Fragonard's Allegories of Love, p. 64
  • Wildenstein, Georges, The Paintings of Fragonard: Complete Edition,no. 31, fig. 24
  • Mandel, Gabriele, and Wildenstein, Daniel, L'opera complete di Fragonard,no. 40 p. 87
  • Morse, John D., Old Master Paintings in North America,1979, p.128
  • Campbell, Sara, Collector Without Walls: Norton Simon and His Hunt for the Best,2010, cat. D17 p. 442
  • Masterpieces from the Norton Simon Museum,1989, p. 91
  • Gimpel, René, Journal d'un collectionneur, marchand de tableaux, p. 59
  • Seldis, Henry J., Art in America, pp. 95, 101
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Additional Artwork by Artist

Music Jean-Honoré Fragonard c. 1761–65
Study After Italian Artist: Allegory of Fortitude (from the Palazzo Capodimonte) Jean-Honoré Fragonard 1760-61
Study After Jusepe de Ribera: Pieta (from the Certosa di San Martino) Jean-Honoré Fragonard 1760-61

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