Preparations Commence

Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin  (b. 1699, Paris, d. 1779, Paris)

Servant Returning from the Market (La Pourvoyeuse(The Provider)) 1738

Oil on canvas, 46 x 37 cm
Schloss Charlottenburg, Berlin  (there's a version in the Louvre as well)

When we look at this painting we think we know what is happening.  A cook, or maid, is piling up the provisions in preparation for a feast, or perhaps moving them to another spot.  At any rate, she is clearly in charge of the food here.   Look at the large loaves of bread, the big bird (a turkey perhaps?) with its legs sticking out of the sack, the jug on the sideboard and the wine bottles on the floor.  The woman’s attention seems to be focused on something happening in the background – a maid is greeting a man at the door.  Is he the master of the house, checking on the preparations?  Is he the one who has “provided” for this meal?  One of the titles for this painting, after all, is “The Provider.”   Is the provider the one who prepares the food, or the one who pays for it?

Although we can’t say with certainty what is being depicted, we can enjoy this painting as a celebration of the abundance of good food and its preparation.  Chardin’s paintings celebrates the simplicity and intimacy of a bourgeois lifestyle that is focused on an honest, moral way of life. 

I am drawn to Chardin’s respect and appreciation for the  simple aspects of life.  He honors the preparation of the meal as much as, if not more than, the meal itself.  At this time of year, when I am involved in preparations for a family feast, I often find my most pleasurable experience is in the working, not in the consuming.  It’s great to put a beautiful roast or luscious cake out for friends and family.  But the act of preparing it – making sure the seasonings are correct, that the freshest ingredients have been selected, etc.  give me as much pleasure as seeing the end result.  Perhaps this is partly what Chardin honors, and why I prefer “The Provider” in all its ambiguity as the title of this work.

Chardin was  a very successful artist in 18^th century Paris, but not a very prolific one.  He only painted 200 canvases in his 50 year career, yet prints of his work were wildly popular and he made a nice living with his scenes of cozy domestic interiors, genre scenes and still lifes.  His work was not typical of his time.  The “Academy” – the official tastemakers -- expected large heroic history paintings, bold colors and complex compositions.  The aristocracy (and therefore the artists who made work for them) preferred painting, sculpture and architecture that was characterized by complex and intricate forms and patterns.  They commissioned work for their “hôtels” (urban mansions) and palaces that featured the leisurely activities of the upper classes posed in gorgeous landscapes and luxurious interiors.  Pastel colors, light, loose brushstrokes and intricate sinuous lines were the fashion of the time. Pleasure became an art form and a way of life.   Despite rejecting rococo subject matter and aesthetics, Chardin was still greatly admired by the aristocracy, including Louis XV.  His beautiful renderings of textures, of the play of light across surfaces and his comparatively simple images and compositions must have been a welcome change from the frippery of much of the art of this period.

 For a great interpretation of the excess of this period, watch Sophia Coppola’s Marie Antoinette,  I think she really gets the aesthetics and overindulgence of the period.