Jean-Baptiste Greuze

Jean-Baptiste Greuze (1725 –1805) was a French painter. He arrived in Paris in 1750 after training in Lyon, and occasionally attended the Academie Royale His debut at the Salon in 1755 was triumphant but he aspired to being known as a historical painter rather than a ‘genre’ painter which was considered to be a lower category at the time. He took a trip to Italy to try and prove his ‘classical’ credentials, but his work for the Salon of 1757 using Italian subjects were not well received and he returned to the source of his first inspiration – everyday scenes and portraits.

He managed to retain the bright, clear colours and lighter attitude of eighteenth century painting whilst introducing Dutch-influenced realism into French genre painting. He used his painting to exemplify the new idea that painting should be related to life, and through dramatic gestures, vivid facial expressions and detailed settings and costumes, he sought to educate viewers by moralising and ‘speaking to the heart’ in order to make them ‘virtuous’.

He reached the peak of his reputation in 1765, presenting thirteen works. The Academy pressed him for his ‘diploma’ work which was long overdue and which was needed to confirm his membership as per their regulations. In 1769 he submitted a work (Severe et Caracalla) which he intended to establish his history painter credentials, taking a subject from Roman history (the attempted murder of Septimius Severus by his eldest son Caracalla in 210 AD). He was bitterly disappointed when the Academy admitted him but only as a ‘genre’ painter, denying his the highest status of history painter, saying that the painting was unworthy of both the Academy and himself. Angry and humiliated he quarrelled with the Academicians and refused to exhibit in public again until 1804, after the French Revolution opened the doors of the Academy to the world.

During the 1770s Greuze continued to enjoy widespread popularity with engravings of his paintings enjoying wide distribution and he continued to make a good living. However, due to bad management and his wife embezzling most of the proceeds, he found himself in dire straights, particularly with the rise of Neoclassicism in the 1780s which curtailed his popularity. He ended up soliciting commissions which he was unable to carry out successfully which further damaged his reputation.

He died in 1805 in great poverty and was buried in the Montmartre Cemetery in Paris.