Portrait of a Boy 1770 - 1780

Marie Anne Gérard Fragonard, working in France, created this delicate watercolor on ivory, "Portrait of a Boy." The artwork gives insight into the world of elite portraiture and the roles available to women in the 18th century. Gérard Fragonard, who married her husband and fellow artist Jean-Honoré Fragonard, into the French art world, worked as a painter and miniaturist. Her access to that world surely shaped her artistic career. Consider the setting in which it was made, a time when powerful institutions such as the French Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture controlled the art world. Despite these challenges, Gérard Fragonard skillfully navigated these constraints, creating portraits for the wealthy in French society. As art historians, we look to sources from the era, exhibition records, letters, and biographies, to place these works into their context. The true meaning of any artwork comes from understanding the circumstances of its creation and display.