The work of the French painter Jean Honoré Fragonard (1732-1806) constitutes the final expression of the rococo style. He was famous for the fluid grace and sensuous charm of his paintings and for the virtuosity of his technique.

Jean Honoré Fragonard was born in Grasse on April 5, 1732; about 1738 his family moved to Paris. In 1747-1748 the young Fragonard worked as an apprentice in the studio of Jean Baptiste Chardin. In 1748 Fragonard began studying with François Boucher, and in 1752 Fragonard won the Prix de Rome, a prize awarded by the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture to allow promising artists to study at the French Academy in Rome. Between 1752 and 1756 he studied in Paris at the École des Élèves Protégés, a special school that educated young artists for work in Italy.

Early Career

In 1756 Fragonard left for...