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The Cascade

ca. 1775
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 631

This painting and its pair, or pendant, nearby are among Fragonard’s most carefully finished and are executed on wood, which allows for their tremendous precision and intensity of color. They elaborate Antoine Watteau’s interest in romantic gardens, as well as gardens in Italy, a newly popular destination for artists. In 1756, having won a scholarship to study in Rome, Fragonard spent four years at the French academy in that city, a traditional artistic rite of passage. He visited the principal cities of Italy again in 1774, as well as Vienna and Frankfurt. This painting is most likely an imagined conglomeration of the kinds of gardens, architecture, and sculpture he encountered.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: The Cascade
  • Artist: Jean Honoré Fragonard (French, Grasse 1732–1806 Paris)
  • Date: ca. 1775
  • Medium: Oil on wood
  • Dimensions: 11 1/2 x 9 1/2 in. (29.2 x 24.1 cm)
  • Classification: Paintings
  • Credit Line: The Jules Bache Collection, 1949
  • Object Number: 49.7.50
  • Curatorial Department: European Paintings

More Artwork

More Artwork
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A Shaded Avenue, Jean Honoré Fragonard French, Oil on wood
A Shaded Avenue
Jean Honoré Fragonard
ca. 1775
Danse de satyres, Jean Honoré Fragonard French, Etching, first state
Danse de satyres
Jean Honoré Fragonard
n.d.
The Vision of Saint Jerome, Jean Honoré Fragonard French, Etching, first state
The Vision of Saint Jerome
Jean Honoré Fragonard
Johann Liss
1763–64
Bacchante et jeune satyre, Jean Honoré Fragonard French, Etching
Bacchante et jeune satyre
Jean Honoré Fragonard
n.d.
Bacchanale - Satyr and Nymph with Infant and Infant Satyr, Jean Honoré Fragonard French, Etching, second state
Bacchanale - Satyr and Nymph with Infant and Infant Satyr
Jean Honoré Fragonard
n.d.

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