Jean-Honoré Fragonard (1732–1806) was one of the most prolific of the 18th-century painters and draftsmen. Born in the Provençal city of Grasse, Fragonard moved with his family to Paris in 1738. He spent some time in the busy studio of François Boucher before successfully competing for the Prix de Rome in 1752. He then pursued studies at the École Royale des Élèves Protégés in Paris, following the standard training for a history painter.
In 1756 Fragonard travelled to Rome, staying at the French Academy in Rome until 1761. He toured Italy with fellow painter, Hubert Robert, executing numerous sketches of local scenery. It was in these romantic gardens, with their fountains, grottos, temples and terraces, that Fragonard conceived the dreams which he was subsequently to render in his art. He also learned to admire the masters of the Dutch and Flemish schools and was impressed by the florid sumptuousness of Giovanni Battista Tiepolo.
Returning to Paris in 1761, Fragonard found an eager market for his Rococo cabinet pictures and chose to turn away from history painting and royal commissions in favour of work for private collectors. He became particularly masterful in red chalk, producing drawings as finished works of art in their own right. He also further developed the painterly virtuosity of his canvases, working with great rapidity and little blending.
Later, he tried to adapt to changing tastes and tried to remake his style in the neoclassical manner, but his work fell out of favour and he died in relative obscurity in 1806.
