The Armoire
Jean Honoré Fragonard French
Not on view
L'armoire, one of Fragonard's largest and most skillful etchings, became hugely popular as soon as its sale was announced in the Journal de Paris in November 1778. The composition is dominated by two furious parents who, in a rush of movement, fling open a cupboard door to reveal their daughter's embarrassed lover. The unmade bed on the right and the strategic placing of the young man's hat offer further evidence of the amorous nature of the interrupted encounter. Fragonard enlivened the amusing scene with his spirited and confident handling of the etching needle and brilliantly achieved rich tonal effects with a complex and varied system of lines and hatching.
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