When: through December 3, 2017
Jean Honore Fragonard was a well-known French painter of the 1700s, and his "fantasy figures" have been long admired. Full of color and exuberantly painted, they're fun art - when the world is getting you down, these portraits will let you forget your cares for a while. And anything that can lighten the mood in 2017 is worth seeing.
Uncertainty surrounded these paintings for many years until a sketch of 18 portraits turned up for auction in 2012. Identified with names (presumably of the sitters or the commissioners of the work), the sketch answered the question, "Are these real people, or pure imagination?"
In addition, a painting of a young woman reading a book (my favorite of the group) has been scanned as part of a two-year investigation. It turns out, the original work had the woman's face turned towards the viewer; the final painting shows her in profile. Why the change? It's possible the sitter didn't care for the work, and Fragonard had to re-purpose it. Whatever the reason, I like it as it is. We, the viewers, observe the woman reading, but we do not disturb her concentration.
Verdict: A fun escape into colorful costuming; a one-room show easily managed in a lunch hour.
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