Thursday, September 21, 2017

Claude Gillot (1673 - 1722)

Claude Gillot - Wandering at NightWandering at Night
 Claude Gillot - Is It an EnchantmentIs It an Enchantment

Claude Gillot - The Feast of BacchusThe Feast of Bacchus
 Claude Gillot - Feast of PanFeast of Pan
 Claude Gillot - Feast of DianaFeast of Diana
 Claude Gillot - Passion for GamblingPassion for Gambling
 Claude Gillot - Passion for WealthPassion for Wealth
 Claude Gillot - Passion for LovePassion for Love
 Claude Gillot - Passion for WarPassion for War
 Claude Gillot - Festival of the God PanFestival of the God Pan

Claude Gillot - The BirthThe Birth
 Claude Gillot - The EducationThe Education
 Claude Gillot - The MarriageThe Marriage
 Claude Gillot - The FuneralThe Funeral

Claude Gillot - Adolescence (engraved by Jean Audran)Adolescence (engraved by Jean Audran)
 Claude Gillot - Youth (engraved by Jean Audran)Youth (engraved by Jean Audran)
 Claude Gillot - Manhood (engraved by Francois Joullain)Manhood (engraved by Francois Joullain)
 Claude Gillot - Old Age (engraved by Francois Joullain)Old Age (engraved by Francois Joullain)
 Claude Gillot - Witches' SabbathWitches' Sabbath

Claude Gillot - The Witches SabbathThe Witches' Sabbath

Claude Gillot- The Witches Sabbath (detail)The Witches Sabbath (detail)
 Claude Gillot - Feast of the God PanFeast of the God Pan

Claude Gillot - Celebration in Honor of the God PanCelebration in Honor of the God Pan
 Claude Gillot - The Stalled ProcessionThe Stalled Procession
 Claude Gillot - AdolescenceAdolescence (study)
 Claude Gillot - Passion for Gambling (study)Passion for Gambling (study)

Claude Gillot - Passion for Love (study)Passion for Love (study)
 Claude Gillot - The Passion for War (study)The Passion for War (study)
 Claude Gillot - Mythological SceneMythological Scene
 Claude Gillot - Scene of SorceryScene of Sorcery

"Claude Gillot was instrumental in putting the wit back into French art. With novel subject matter and a spontaneous decorative style, Gillot foreshadowed the Rococo and helped to free French painting from the academic conventions imposed by Charles LeBrun. Moreover, Gillot pursued his career in the margins, beyond court taste and royal patronage, maintaining individualism and reviving the sly spirit of Jacques Callot. Gillot's first teacher was probably his father, a painter and embroiderer. He learned to paint and etch in academic painter Jean-Baptiste Corneille's Paris studio. Gillot entered the Académie Royale in 1715 but made his living as a decorator and painter of arabesques. He also designed book illustrations, tapestry cartoons, and sets and costumes for the opera. The popular theater was Gillot's greatest artistic inspiration, particularly the commedia dell'arte, and he showed that fiction could be as true as reality. His paintings are rare, for after about 1709 he devoted himself entirely to drawing and engraving, working in a nervous, mannered spirit.

Gillot's contemporaries recognized his role in developing the fête galante, which was brought to maturity by his famous student Jean-Antoine Watteau. Despite this recognition, Gillot died impoverished and unappreciateded." - quote source

Artworks found at The Metropolitan Museum of Art and The British Museum.

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