JEAN-HONORÉ FRAGONARD (GRASSE, 1732 – PARIS, 1806) The Little Gardener c. 1750 – 1760 Oil on canvas 98 x 85 cm. Signed and monogrammed on the right Certificate from René Millet Expertise. Seated in the midst of a bucolic landscape, a little girl, comfortably settled on a slope, is picking a flower which she is about to place in a wicker basket. Her attention is drawn elsewhere, as if she were witnessing a scene beyond the frame. This child, aged five or six, is dressed like an adult, in a French-style dress with a bodice featuring a wide neckline. A straw hat, pushed back, seems to form a halo around her. Somewhere between a cherub and a putto, the little girl belongs to an idealised world of childhood that serves to embellish the courtly scenes of her elders. This young lady probably has a cherub as her counterpart to play opposite her. The oval format of the work suggests a panel intended to be set into the décor of a drawing room. The bright, warm colours of the dress are set off by the more pastel-like tones of the vegetation surrounding her. The blue of the sky, dotted with white clouds, takes on a more decorative than atmospheric quality. Everything is harmonious and balanced, from the leaning tree in the background, which echoes the child’s swaying, to the rounded shape of her dress, which fits perfectly within the oval of the frame. Jean-Honoré Fragonard (1732–1806) was a leading painter of 18th-century France. Trained in the studio of François Boucher (1703–1770), Fragonard was introduced to his master’s Rococo style. Having won the Prix de Rome at the age of 20, he travelled to Italy with Hubert Robert and there discovered the virtuosic painting of Tiepolo. In 1765, he was admitted to the Academy as a history painter but abandoned this grand genre to devote himself to a more gallant, even erotic style of painting, more in keeping with the tastes of the court of Louis XV. The lightness of his brushwork, which captures the fleeting moment of a glance or a kiss, is always imbued with elegance and restraint, as evidenced by *The Gazing Coquette*. The frivolity of the subject is complemented by a sense of candour, emphasised by pastel colours. The figures, never risqué, instead embody the innocence of a childhood that remains ever-present. *La Petite jardinière* also belongs to this tender age, a spectator before soon becoming a participant. The bucolic landscapes in soft greens, dotted with little flowers, often serve as a backdrop to these fleeting idylls. This style of intimate painting, intended for private apartments, was very much in vogue in the mid-18th century, highly prized by the king and a libertine aristocracy. These small formats, with their soft tones, are perfectly suited to the alcoves for which they are intended.