Still-Life with Game
by CHARDIN, Jean-Baptiste-Siméon, Oil on canvas, 50 x 59 cm
After 1750, Chardin returned to still-lifes, with greater scope and magnificent effects, such as the grays and browns of the Still-Life with Game, offset by the russet plumage and gold fruit.
This painting is an example of Chardin’s characteristically painterly approach to the subject matter of dead rabbits, birds, or other game arranged on a thick stone slab. Textures of fur and feathers are richly worked in the oil paint, and while the illusion is brilliant from a certain distance, a closer look reveals that he paint takes on a life of its own.