My Kid Could Paint That

By FRANCESCA MAURO

The Love Letter, by Jean-Honore Fragonard, was painted in 1770, is oil on canvas, it's 2 feet x 1 foot, and is on view at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

This piece is very aesthetically pleasing in that the use of all of the different shades of gold and brown helps to bring the focus on the woman in the center. In addition, the flowers, ribbon, and dress also help to bring the piece together. The blue dress she wears is one of the main components of the painting because all of the ruffles, highlights, and shadows make it as realistic as possible. There are several aspects of this painting that help bring it together. This includes line(s), lighting, and subject matter.

With respect to the lines and hidden shapes in the painting, there are several curves, diagonals, triangles, and squares. At first glance, it is hard to see. However, if you take the time to really study and admire the work you'll be able to see the curvature with the drapes, windows, and desk. The harsh straight lines are on the chair, the top of the desk, and the bottom half of the chair.  Within the woman alone there are triangles, diagonal lines, and a circle. All of this gives you a different way to view this rather than just seeing a painting.

The lighting in this is another key component. As you can see, the upper half is significantly darker than the lower half. This is for two reasons. One, to help keep the focus and importance on the woman, by illuminating her face, the letter, and the flowers. Two, because of the position and placement of the window.

Next, the subject matter. The woman in the painting is noticeably wealthy, literate, and classy. We can see her wealth through the dress and bonnet, and her literacy through the letter and desk. It seems as though she has just received a letter from a letter and is preparing to write back. In addition, note the smirk on her face as if the letter has something inappropriate written in it or she is writing something inappropriate back.

In The Progress of Love series, Fragonard painted this piece The Lover Crowned. In this piece, the light comes from the left bottom corner and directly illuminates the lovers, who are the main focus in this painting. The woman is crowning the young man with a garland. However, the woman is looking away when crowning, which makes the viewers think she was not willing to do so. Take a closer look and viewers can find she is smiling. The woman's left hand is holding the man's hand. Their hands are either facing up or down which symbolize receiving and giving in relationship. The man shows his love as he is looking at the woman instead of looking up at the garland. It is also shown as he was sitting on the floor begging the woman while the woman is sitting on the bench tricking him.

In the background, the trees are doing the same pose as the lovers. The big tree in the middle is like the woman crowning the weak tree on the left. Before the trees, there is an angel statue looking down at the lovers, wishing them good luck. On the right bottom corner of the painting, an artist is sketching the lovers on his sketch book. By lining up the lovers, viewers can see the angel statue and the artist are symmetrical. The painter used complementary colors such as green and red to highlight the red in the painting which emphasize the theme love. Also, elements like flowers, music, and angel all symbolize the beauty of love in this painting. The hue in this painting is thick but because of the use of nature and warm light in this painting makes the painting looks comfortable.

Painted in 1785 by Jean-Honoré Fragonard, The Fountain of Love depicts a young pair of lovers leaning toward a fountain preparing to drink water from it. The water will make the young couple fall in love. The "Fountain of Love" was a popular theme in Rococo era paintings and art. Fragonard's paintings often had sexual undertones and played with the feeling of falling in love. Generally, Fragonard painted portraits of wealthy noble people, but this particuarly painting was right before the French Revolution and political tensions were high.

There are two versions of The Fountain of Love, the one pictured above was the original. Fragonard also painted a second, more refined version later the same year. This version actually has two layers, the first layer has the man looking at the woman. Fragonard changed his mind and repainted the two lovers heads giving an interesting look at his artistic process.

Despite the painting being about love, the colors used are quite dark and dull, which is in contrast since most of Fragonard's paintings are quite colorful. The only light is on the lovers and cupids, which brings the focus to them and also creates a contrast between love and hate. The lover's bodies create strong parallel lines giving them swift movement to the left. A line starting at the cupids in the bottom left and running through the woman's right arm gives the painting visual balance.