Jean-Étienne Liotard: The Rules of Art and the Late Still Life Paintings

Janis Bell

Abstract


Jean-Étienne Liotard (Geneva 1702–1789) was renowned for his pastel portraits throughout Europe, but in his late years, he painted still lifes like Tea Set (c.1781–1783) in the J. Paul Getty Museum (Los Angeles). His short treatise Traité des principes et des règles de la peinture was penned in these years and sheds light on the shifting viewpoints that characterise his depiction, which departs from the strict, one-point perspective taught in art academies. The discussion here will focus on the deliberateness of this departure as an exploration of the role of colour and light in creating pictorial space, demonstrating principles that he articulated in his treatise.

Parole chiave


Liotard; still-life; rules of art; colour; light; Leonardo da Vinci

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Riferimenti bibliografici


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Fig. 3: letter and receipt from the Vienna KHM

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for Fig. 5 Elmer Belt Library of Vinciana, California Digital Library




DOI: https://doi.org/10.15162/2240-760X/1867

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