My Kid Could Paint That

Sebastien Chardin, Monkey as a Painter, 1740

By ANIRUDH VADLAMANI

This painting defines the times we live in. A simple look around and we see numerous things already in the monkey's studio. A statue with his arm broken off in typical late baroque style made in porcelain,  a worn coat... but what about the monkey? The monkey is you. Are you confused? Then let me explain.

You are the monkey. A mindless creature forced to obey his master, the monkey does not have a say in what he can paint. Painting used to be an art to appease one's soul, however times like these where the disparity in classes is so large, people are forced to come across this money in different ways. Rather than art being a way to diffuse your emotion and prowess in physical means, now the artist is painting with something already in his head ready to appease the highest bidder. Did my good friend Chardin want to create this painting? No, but he just thought, monkey see, monkey do.

The execution of the painting isn't all too great. I believe that the message it conveys is greater. The artist's palette is dark and the edges are skewed and seem rushed. The monkey appears to be in pain but that's probably because his surrounding is messy and not too well done. The top of the easel is very strange. I would say that it's because of perspective but there isn't a vanishing point.

I would sell this painting to who I think deserves it. The person that deserves it is the one who understands the painting and appreciates the paintings message and values. In the eye of the worthy, this painting symbolizes the Late Baroque period while to the lay man this painting is nothing but a Monkey as Painter. So buy it if you must but be warned. But I can't control your actions. You know what they say, "Monkey see, Monkey do."

Editor's Note: The authors were asked to write sales copy for Edme-François Gersaint, the prominent rococo art dealer who offered a printed catalog of available works.

Jean-Siméon Chardin, Monkey as Painter, 1740

I chose this painting because to me it seemed a little different from the rest of Chardin’s work. Chardin’s works may flaunt his talent for painting rich color and positioning his objects beautifully in space, but to me his work has always felt a little dry. I admired his talent, but I couldn’t spend hours looking at his paintings. Then I found this hilarious painting of a monkey carefully outlining what looks like a portrait. Clad in typical painter's garb and standing next to his painter’s equipment, Chardin’s monkey looks unnervingly human. Its haunting eyes stare back at the viewer plaintively. I can’t get over the eyes—they give the monkey intelligence, which for some reason makes it way funnier. Aside from being hilarious, this picture actually appeals to me on a compositional level as well. Chardin was a master of the art of painting, and he used his talent here. The brushwork around the monkey’s head in particular blows me away. The amount of detail he gets out of the fur on the monkey’s face seems impossible given the rather few brush strokes he uses.

Although painting a monkey as a painter deviates dramatically from Chardin’s typical still lifes and domestic scenes, Chardin’s hallmarked style shines through. In particular, the lighting is typical of Chardin—light does not seem to come from a specific source. The painting seems illuminated from within. Chardin forgoes the dramatic lighting present in paintings by past masters like Rembrandt and Caravaggio for a quieter feel. His paintings feel calm—the studios, tables, and kitchens he paints seem inviting and warm. I am not sure how I feel about this. At a passing glance, his works seem pleasant enough to look at—the proportions fit nicely and the colors are beautiful. But to me, at least, his paintings seem to grow flat after a while. I cannot stare into one of his paintings and feel absorbed like I can the works of some of the great old masters. However, Chardin may not have objected to this. He painted in the enlightenment, and his works represented a move away from emotional religious scenes towards the cold rationality of the enlightenment. The flat emotion this painting and its brethren give off may signify a calculated choice to prefer science over the fires of torment or the light of salvation.