Love as Folly
Jean Honoré Fragonard·c. 1773/1776
Historical Context
Love as Folly (c. 1773-76), at the National Gallery of Art, belongs to Fragonard's series of allegorical paintings exploring the nature and consequences of love. The subject — love depicted as a form of madness or foolishness — draws on a long tradition in European art and literature that treated romantic passion as a species of insanity. Fragonard renders this philosophical conceit with characteristic lightness and visual charm, transforming abstract allegory into sensuous pictorial delight. The painting was part of a decorative program that Fragonard developed for Madame du Barry's pavilion at Louveciennes, though the commission was ultimately rejected in favor of more fashionable Neoclassical paintings by Joseph-Marie Vien.
Technical Analysis
Fragonard employs his bravura technique with loaded brush and rapid execution. The figure is rendered with soft, sensuous modeling in warm flesh tones, surrounded by swirling drapery and decorative elements painted with energetic, calligraphic strokes. The overall effect is one of decorative exuberance and spirited fantasy.
Provenance
Possibly Jean François Leroy de Sennéville [1715-1784], Paris; possibly (his sale, Chariot and Paillet at Hôtel de Bulion, Paris, 5-11 April 1780, no. 56); possibly purchased by Verrier. possibly Marquis de Véri; possibly (his sale, Paillet, Paris, 12 December 1785, no. 39); possibly purchased by Millin. possibly Folliot; possibly (Folliot sale, Regnault, Paris, 15 April 1793, no. 50). Marquis des Isnards; (Wildenstein, London, New York, and Paris); probably held jointly with (Ernest Gimpel, New York); sold 1905/1906 to John Woodruff Simpson [1850-1920], New York; by inheritance to his widow, Katherine Seney Simpson [d. 1943], New York; by inheritance to her daughter, Jean W. Simpson [1897-1980];[1] gift 1947 to NGA. [1] Georges Wildenstein wrote to Fern Shapley that his father had purchased this painting and its pendant, _Love the Sentinel_ (NGA 1947.2.2), from the marquis des Isnards, whose unwritten family tradition was that they had owned the pair since they were painted (letter of 21 June 1948, in NGA curatorial files). The "CA" numbers on the stretchers of both paintings, and the corresponding prospectus for the pair (in NGA curatorial files) indicate that they were on consignment with M. Knoedler & Co. at some time during the Simpsons' ownership. See entry on page 17 of Commission Book 4, Knoedler Records, Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles, copy in NGA curatorial files.
