Jean-Baptiste Greuze: The Drama of Looking

Jean-Baptiste Greuze: The Dram a of Looking J a n ie V a n p ee S IN C E H IS IN IT IA L R A P ID R IS E to p o p u lar success in th e m id 1750’s, Jean -B ap tiste G reu ze’s critical fo rtu n e h as experienced m any ups an d dow ns. L auded as well as derided fo r the very sam e w orks, G reuze has never failed to excite strong critical response. W hile the various responses certainly reflect changes in taste an d artistic as well as critical conventions, they also attest to the pow er o f G reu ze’s pictures to engage the view er. In this essay I will argue th a t G reu ze’s en d u rin g success in involving the sp ectato r resides in the w ay his paintings inscribe w ithin them the view er’s gaze b o th form ally an d them atically. W hatever the p ain tin g s’ genre or su b ject m atter, they im plicate the view er’s p res­ ence an d act o f looking. In organizing how the view er sees, an d n o t ju st w hat he sees, G reu ze’s p ain tin g s deliberately explore one o f the d o m i­ n an t philosophical issues o f the E nlightenm ent, the p ro b lem o f looking an d the rep resen tatio n o f looking. B efore analyzing the paintings them selves, it m ay be useful to situ ate G reu ze’s achievem ents w ithin the context o f the a rt practices o f his period an d to review the h istory o f critical evaluations o f his w ork. In his lifetim e, he w as especially well know n fo r having n arro w ed the scope o f genre p ainting to focus on narrativ es o f fam ily d ra m a an d sentim ent. T h e intensity an d specificity o f the fam ily d ram as he depicted b ro u g h t seriousness an d high m oral p u rp o se to a genre th a t trad itio n ally p o r­ trayed com m on an d low ly h u m an .activ ity , frequently in a com ic m ode. G reuze redefined the trad itio n al rep erto ire o f genre scenes featu rin g social gatherings o r individuals eating, playing, w orking o r relaxing to depict the u n rem ark ab le b u t m o m en to u s occasions th a t p u n ctu ate the cycle o f fam ily life— m arriag e, d ea th , sep aratio n , reu n io n . H e shifted the settings o f his scenes from th e fam iliar ones o f kitchens, inns, and b a rn ­ y ard s, open to the com ings an d goings o f a large social g ro u p , to the p rivate and secluded setting o f the enclosed fam ily ro o m . T h e carefully b alan ced com positions, the details o f the figures, their dress an d gestures, the setting, everything in G reu ze’s genre paintings aim ed to u n i­ versalize the m om ent depicted an d to elevate the individual p articip an ts to the statu re o f representative types. G reuze “ en n o b led ” the genre; he 4 6 W i n t e r 1988 V a n p é e rejected the trad itio n al use o f precise detail th a t sim ply particu larized a scene’s geographic an d class identity; instead he subtly evoked classiciz­ ing poses in the co m position an...