Painting reality or Passions of the People
The 1934 exhibition, French Realist Painters, organised by Charles Sterling at the Orangerie in the Tuileries gardens, revealed the anti-classical and popular aspects of French creation during the first half of the 17th century. Works like those of the Le Nain brothers or paintings, attributed to the Montalliers (which are still relatively unknown) portrayed peasants and the lower classes of craftsmen in genre scenes as well as devotional paintings. Naturally these works were painted for wealthy collectors and not for the working classes. Close to the Caravaggesque artists in his roman period, Claude Vignon enjoyed a long Parisian career characterised by a highly personal style which gradually moved away from the trends of the time.
The Orangerie exhibition also attracted attention to the provincial schools of 17th century painting. Deruet from Nancy is one of the most endearing figures of a delicate, almost naïve courtly art. Jean Tassel swathed the regions of Langres and Burgundy with his succulent painting, a little clumsy but sometimes very moving.
| The Passions of the People |
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