Chardin, a Proto-Impressionist 18th-Century Painter

Presented at the Salon in 1761 and copied by draftsman and artist Gabriel de Saint-Aubin in the margin of his copy of the booklet, The Basket of Wild Strawberries was not blessed with the attention of 18th-century critics. A century later, in 1862, Charles Blanc finally mentions “a basket of strawberries, a crystal glass half-full of water in which shimmer the vermilion reflections of a beautiful peach placed next to two white carnations and a few cherries”, concluding: “nothing more was necessary for such an exquisite work.” In 1863, the Goncourt brothers followed suit and delivered a beautiful text on what is today considered an icon of 18th-century French painting. Since then, preserved in the collections of the Marcille family, its first known owners, but often loaned and reproduced, The Basket of Wild Strawberries is undoubtedly even more famous than The Brioche and the forty other paintings by Chardin preserved in the Louvre. André Gide, who had the chance…