Blindman's Buff
Jean Honoré Fragonard·c. 1775/1780
Historical Context
Blindman's Buff (c. 1775-80), at the National Gallery of Art, depicts the popular parlor game in a garden setting — a subject that allowed Fragonard to combine his gifts for landscape, figure composition, and the depiction of playful social interaction. The game of blindman's buff, with its elements of pursuit, concealment, and physical contact, carried mildly erotic overtones that made it a favorite subject for Rococo painters. Fragonard renders the scene with lush, feathery brushwork that dissolves solid forms into atmospheric light, the garden setting suggesting the aristocratic pleasure gardens that provided the social setting for such games.
Technical Analysis
The composition captures dynamic movement with swirling figures in a verdant landscape. Fragonard's characteristically rapid brushwork renders foliage with energetic, feathery strokes while the figures are painted with softer, more sensuous modeling. The palette is dominated by rich greens and warm flesh tones.
Provenance
Casimir Perrin, marquis de Cypierre [1783-1844], Paris; (his estate sale, at his residence by Thoré, Paris, 10 March 1845 and days following, no. 52 or 53).[1] possibly marquise de Montesquiou-Fezensac, Paris;[2] Camille Groult [1837-1908], Paris, possibly from 1889, to1908.[3] (Wildenstein & Co., New York); sold February 1954 to the Samuel H. Kress Foundation, New York;[4] gift 1961 to NGA. [1] This is the first confirmed record of the painting. For discussion of possible earlier provenance now rejected by scholars, see Richard Rand's entry on this painting and its pendant, _The Swing_ (NGA 1961.9.17), in Philip Conisbee, et al., _French Paintings of the Fifteenth through the Eighteenth Century_, The Collections of the National Gallery of Art Systematic Catalogue, Washington, 2009: 199, 202 nn. 13, 14. [2] The pair of paintings were possibly the two Fragonards sold from the Montesquiou-Fezensac collection to Henri Haro, buying for Camille Groult, prior to its 1897 sale at Hôtel Drouot, Paris, 19 March 1897; see Colin Eisler, _Paintings from the Samuel H. Kress Collection: European Schools Excluding Italian_, Oxford, 1977: 331 n. 17. [3] Groult's ownership was incorrectly given as "until at least 1889" in the provenance for the painting published in the NGA's 2009 catalogue (see note 1). Thanks to correspondence from Olafur Thorvaldsson (e-mail of 27 September 2019, in NGA curatorial files), Groult's ownership can be further clarified. Groult was given as the owner of the paintings in publications of 1889 (Portalis; who actually places only NGA 1961.9.16 in Groult's collection, and confuses the provenances of three paintings in his entry), 1906 (Nolhac), 1908 (Flament; kindly sent to NGA by Mr. Thorvaldsson), and 1927 (Reau). If Groult did not acquire the paintings until 1897 (see note 2 about this possibility), the 1889 publication is in error. Since Groult died in 1908, the 1927 publication must have meant he was a former owner, although it is possible the painting was inherited by his son, Jean Groult (1868-1951). The painting was not included in the 21 March 1952 sale of the Groult collection. [4] The bill of sale (copy in NGA curatorial files, see also The Kress Collection Digital Archive, https://kress.nga.gov/Detail/objects/397) is dated February 10, 1954, and was for a total of fourteen paintings; payments by the Foundation continued to March 1957.
