"Chocolate Girl" is a painting by the Swiss artist Jean Etienne Lyotard, the most famous work author. Written in mid-eighteenth centuries, it still attracts the eyes of visitors Dresden Gallery The to which the collection belongs.
Meet the artist
Jean Etienne (1702-1789) is a non-trivial figure. He was known as a "painter of truth", but not because he sought to capture the injustice of the world or expose those in power. Lyotard loved the exact depiction of what he saw. His work is often close to photography. Today, this approach is unlikely to surprise anyone, but at that time there were canvases that conveyed reality in an embellished form, full of brilliance and obligatory charm. Lyotard can be called a rebel, but with a happy fate. He was loved the mighty of the world this and left to posterity magnificent portraits Marshal of Saxony, Pope Clement XII, Empress of Austria. The image of the latter vividly illustrates the author’s approach, which is non-standard for the 18th century: the queen is not painted surrounded by attributes of power or full of thoughts about the fate of Austria, in the portrait she looks more like a mother worried about her sons and a woman full of health.
Jean Etienne was an avid traveler. He visited Moldova and Romania, did not deprive Italy, France, Greece of his attention, lived in Turkey for some time and brought back love for the East and numerous images of delicate beauties against the backdrop of exotic flowers. Just some time after the artist’s return from Constantinople, the “Chocolate Girl” appears - a painting that brought worldwide fame to Lyotard.
Attention to detail
The composition of the canvas is quite simple: in full height depicts a girl with a tray in her hands. This is a chocolate bar. The author of the picture was so able to capture the young lady that it seems as if she is about to go further past the enthusiastic observers. How is this effect created? It's all about the details. Folds of clothes, elements of a cup, finally, reflection in a glass of water - everything makes the image so realistic that the girl seems to be alive.
Each element is carefully crafted. It can be seen that the maid's apron is quite fresh: even the folds have not yet straightened out, apparently, they put it on quite recently. The artist paid attention to drawing both lace on the cap and on the cup. In creating the illusion of movement last role plays and free space in the direction, where is going chocolatier. This is exactly what Lyotard's painting captivates with: realism and simplicity, not devoid of tenderness.
light and color
The warmth of the relationship between the artist and the model is always read by the viewer in one way or another. Here it is rendered with color palette. Delicate, flowing into each other pink, white, golden, silver-gray glow from the inside, like the young chocolate girl herself. The picture is painted in pastel, conveying the slightest nuances of shades. Lyotard preferred this painting technique to others and was considered a real pastel virtuoso.
The author was able to convey Inner Light heroines. She is modest, but pride and consciousness of her own beauty are read in her posture and head position. A simple maid? Ordinary chocolate bar? The picture allows us to hope that this is not so.
Legends of all conquering love
The painter definitely painted the girl not from his imagination. Despite the fact that the main biographer of Lyotard does not agree with this, rumor ascribes a romantic origin to the canvas.
Jean Etienne often portrayed beauties, including the chocolate girl. The author of the painting, according to one version, was hired by Prince Liechtenstein (or Duke Dietrichstein) to perpetuate the image of his future wife. The girl's name was presumably Anna or Charlotte Baldauf. IN different options legend, she served with the empress or in small cafe. future husband noticed her at the moment when she was carrying a cup of marvelous and fragrant drink royalty or visitors to the establishment. The noble lover, despite the protests of his relatives, made an offer to Anna. Having received consent, he turned to the artist with a request to capture his beloved as she appeared before him for the first time. Whether this is true or a myth, it is now quite difficult to find out. However, it is absolutely known that the subsequent fate of the picture was full of adventures and a certain romanticism.
To the glory of confectioners and on the verge of death
"Chocolate Girl" visited the collection of the German Elector and ended up in the Dresden Gallery. there in late XIX century, it was noticed by the owner of Baker's Chocolate. Admiring the picture and inspired by the legends associated with it, he decided to make it the company's logo. To this day, the Lyotara chocolate bar can be found on the packages of delicacies produced by the company.
During the Second World War, she, along with other masterpieces, was taken away from the constantly bombarded city and hidden in one of the fortresses. Found in a mined basement soviet soldiers and saved from certain death by returning back to the gallery.
The painting "Chocolate Girl", photos and reproductions of which already number in the thousands, is still in Dresden today. Written over two centuries ago, it continues to fascinate and inspire.
Swiss artist J.-E. Lyotard was called "the painter of kings and beautiful women". Everything in his life was made up of happy accidents and circumstances that talented artist, gifted to the same practical mind, skillfully took advantage.
J.-E. Lyotard. Self-portrait in Turkish costume. Pastel.
At one time, the family of J.-E. Lyotara was forced to emigrate from France to Geneva. Future artist at one time he studied in Paris with the engraver and miniaturist Masse. Then in the life of J.-E. Liotard began years of wandering, during which he visited many cities and countries. He traveled as a companion of nobles, as many often had to do. artists of the XVIII century.
Travel gave J.-E. Lyotard is a diverse material for observations and has accustomed him to almost documentary accuracy of sketches. For portraits J.-E. Lyotard is characterized by exceptional accuracy in the reproduction of the model, and this is precisely what the artist gained European fame for himself and acquired high patrons. He met with a warm welcome from the Austrian Empress Maria Theresa in Vienna, and from the Pope in Rome, and from Turkish Sultan in Constantinople. Everyone liked the portraits of J.-E. Lyotard is the similarity of faces, the completeness in the image of the materials of clothing and jewelry, and the colorfulness of his canvases.
The portrait of the beautiful Anna Baldauf (Anna Baltauf), world-famous under the name "Chocolate Girl" (French "La belle chocoladiere") and countless times copied and engraved (located in the Dresden Gallery) was written in Vienna.
Most likely, Anna was a servant at the court of the Austrian Empress Maria Theresa, where the painter noticed the girl. Anna, the daughter of an impoverished knight, served as a maid at court.
They say that it was there that the young Prince Dietrichstein noticed her beauty.
He fell in love and - to the dismay of the aristocracy - married her.
As wedding gift Prince Dietrichstein ordered Jean Etienne Lyotard, who was working at the Viennese court at that time, a portrait of his bride in the very clothes in which he first saw her.
They say that on the day of the wedding, the bride invited friends of the chocolate makers and, being happy with her elevation, gave them her hand with the words: "Here! Now I have become a princess, and you can kiss my hand."
This picture is also notable for the fact that it was the first to depict the first porcelain in Europe - Meissen
Now this canvas is in the Dresden Art Gallery, but it was originally bought by the Venetian Count Algarotti, a connoisseur and lover of painting. In one of his letters, he said: "I bought the famous Lyotard pastel. It is executed in imperceptible degradations of light and with excellent relief. The transferred nature is not changed at all; being a European work, the pastel is executed in the spirit of the Chinese ... sworn enemies of the shadow. Well As for the finished work, it can be said in one word: this is a pastel Holbein, depicting a young German maid in profile, carrying a tray with a glass of water and a cup of chocolate.
Indeed, the picture shows only one female figure.
But she is depicted in a way that captivates most viewers who visit famous gallery in Dresden. J.-E. Lyotard managed to give the picture the character of a genre scene. There is free space in front of the "Chocolate Girl", so the impression is that the model does not seem to be posing for the artist, but passes in front of the viewer with small steps, carefully and carefully carrying a tray.
The eyes of the "Chocolate Girl" are modestly lowered, but the awareness of her attractiveness illuminates her entire tender and sweet face. Her posture, the position of her head and hands - everything is full of the most natural grace. Her small foot in a gray high-heeled shoe peeks out modestly from under her skirt.
The colors of the "Chocolate Girl" clothes were chosen by J.-E. Liotard in soft harmony: a silver-gray skirt, a golden bodice, a shining white apron, a transparent white scarf and a fresh silk cap - pink and delicate, like a rose petal ... The artist, with his inherent precision, does not deviate a single line from the most detailed reproduction of the form body "Chocolate Girl" and her clothes. So, for example, the dense silk of her dress is quite realistic; the folds of the apron, which had just been taken out of the linen drawer, had not yet straightened out; the glass of water reflects the window, and it reflects the line of the top edge of the small tray.
The painting "Chocolate Girl" is distinguished by its completeness in every detail, which J.-E. Lyotard. Art historian M. Alpatov believes that "because of all these features, "Chocolate Girl" can be attributed to the wonders of optical illusion in art, like those bunches of grapes in the picture of the famous ancient Greek artist who tried to peck sparrows." After the conventionality and mannerisms of some masters of the 18th century, the almost photographic accuracy of the painting by J.-E. Lyotara gave the impression of a revelation.
The artist worked exclusively in the pastel technique, which was very common in the 18th century, and mastered it to perfection. But J.-E. Lyotard was not only a virtuoso master of this technique, but also its staunch theoretician. He believed that it was pastel that most naturally conveys color and the subtlest transitions of chiaroscuro within light colorful tones. The very task of showing a figure in a white apron against a white wall is a difficult pictorial task, but J.-E. Lyotara in a combination of a gray-gray and white apron with pale-gray shades and a steely shade of water is a real poetry of colors. In addition, using thin transparent shadows in "Chocolate Girl", he achieved the perfect accuracy of the drawing, as well as the maximum convexity and definiteness of volumes.
based on Wikipedia and the story of N.A. Ionina, publishing house "Veche", 2002
The painting Chocolate Girl in the Dresden Gallery attracts with its photographic accuracy, clear lines and minimalism. The Swiss painter Jean Etienne Lyotard masterfully worked in the pastel technique in the Vienna period of 1743-1745. created his best job. Venetian painters spoke of the painting as the pinnacle of skill: “the most beautiful pastel that you could ever see."
The portrait of a cute girl serving hot chocolate is created on parchment – treated leather. The painting has medium dimensions: 82.5 cm x 52.5 cm. And although it is located among other canvases, it invariably attracts attention.
How Chocolate Lyotara ended up in Germany
The remarkable work of J.E. Lyotard was delivered to the Saxon elector Augustus III Italian writer and art critic Francesco Algarotti.
Count Algarotti appeared at the Saxon court in 1742. He examined all works of art, which made up the royal collection, which won undeniable authority. Since August III was an active collector of artistic masterpieces, in 1743, on his behalf, Algarotti went to Italy to replenish the collection with worthy novelties from famous artists.
For about four years, the art critic carried out the mission assigned to him and delivered 34 paintings to Dresden, among which was Lyotard's Das Schokoladenmädchen.
About the author of the painting Chocolate Girl
Jean Etienne Lyotard is a Swiss artist. Why is it best picture“The Beautiful Chocolate Girl” was written in Vienna, and came to the gallery of the Saxon elector from Italy? And the reason is simple. Lyotard began his creative activity in Geneva, but at the age of 32 he went on a long journey to the southeast. At first it was Italy, Greece and Constantinople.
Then the artist ended up in Vienna, where he won the favor of Maria Theresa and worked at the court of the Austrian Empress. It was there that he painted a portrait of a young lady holding a tray of refreshments. When Lyotard again moved to Venice, his interests intersected with Count Algarotti, who acquired the painting for.
Who is in the picture
Until now, it has not been established for certain who posed for the artist when creating the portrait.
There are several versions suggesting that the young beauty could serve at the Viennese court. It is possible that the artist living in Vienna at that time depicted a sweet girl whom he had seen more than once at work.
Some researchers are inclined to the idea that the daughter of a Viennese coachman, who worked as a maid, became the model of the Chocolate Girl. But artists do not honor every maid with a portrait... This is followed by a romantic story about how Prince Dietrichstein saw the maid Anna and fell in love with simple girl. And when she married him, he turned to Jean Liotard with a request to write the image that conquered the prince.
The Swiss artist Jean Etienne Lyotard, whose “Chocolate Girl” is the pearl of the Dresden Collection art gallery, for its long and happy life(1702-1789) created about 400 works. “Holbein pastels” (as colleagues called Lyotard, thereby recognizing his unconditional talent) did not write bad jobs, however, the canvas named at the beginning of the article became a masterpiece of world painting.
Photographic Image Accuracy
What does Holbein pastels mean? The works of the greatest German artist The younger ones are famous for their portrait resemblance and jewelry elaboration of drawings. But he painted in oils, and pastels glorified Lyotard. "Chocolate" - the most famous painting done in this manner. All paintings by the Swiss artist are distinguished by photographic accuracy, the smallest development of every detail. One of the art critics compared Lyotard with the ancient Greek artist Zeuxis, famous topics that, wanting to prove his superiority over the master of realism Parrhasius, he painted such a grape, on which birds immediately flocked to peck it.
Perfect and fragile
Lyotard was the same virtuoso. According to this art critic (M. Alpatov), “Chocolate Girl” refers to those masterpieces in which there is a wonderful optical illusion. A lot has been written about this work, including because it was done in a manner that is much rarer than watercolor, engraving, and even more so. oil painting. Artists resorted to pastel less often because of its fragility and susceptibility to destruction with the smallest careless movements, because binders extremely little was added to the starting material - paste (therefore "pastel"). Hence the timeless freshness of colors on canvases made in this manner (materials added to oil paints, darken). And pastel works crumble and collapse during transportation. Over time, the authors of such paintings came to the conclusion that they are best preserved under glass, based on a passe-partout - a cardboard edging of the canvas on which the work was done. In this case, the glass does not touch the pattern. But these fragile works are distinguished by a bewitching radiance, velvety and specific softness.
Free, imposing, mysterious ...
It was in this manner that Lyotard wrote. “Chocolate Girl” is the most famous and best, according to many experts, pastel work, although the artist himself did not distinguish it from everything previously created. Talented and lucky, he was known as a master who painted royalty and beauties. Jean Etienne was wealthy and could only afford to do what he loved - painting and traveling. Lyotard was absolutely free both in life, despite the presence of five children, and in creativity. He was extravagant and mysterious, he was patronized by the royal houses of Europe.
Mysterious Model
According to one version, beautiful girl, depicted in the picture, is Anna Baldauf, the daughter of an impoverished knight. Noble origin allowed her to be a maid at the court of Empress Maria Theresa of Austria. There, the artist noticed her beauty and grace. According to another, more romantic version, Prince Dietrichstein, visiting was captivated by the beauty of the waitress at first sight. He married her, against the will of the family, and for the wedding he gave his Cinderella her portrait in the outfit in which he saw Anna for the first time. The gift was royal, since Lyotard was a court painter, and his work was very expensive. There are other versions about the posing model.
Charming simplicity
The picture is captivating, it fascinates, despite the fact that its plot is more than simple. After the artsy canvases, say, of the same Watteau, which depicted coquettish ladies and gentlemen, the lonely figure of a girl carrying a tray along a white wall looked unexpectedly simple, natural and charming. The canvas measuring 82.5 x 52.5 is made on parchment with pastels, which the artist Lyotard was fluent in. “Chocolate Girl”, written in striking filigree accuracy of objects - the girl just got the apron from the chest of drawers, the slightest wrinkle is visible on it, the chocolate giver herself seems to be breathing, and the chocolate smells.
Visual aid in physics
Everything is charming in the chocolate maker - a small leg, a straight back, but not tense, the girl is not exhausted by thinness, but slender. The costume is wonderfully written, the colors are wonderfully chosen. And after all, one must take into account that only a white wall serves as a background - no bust or tubs of flowers for you. But connoisseurs of painting from the moment the painting appeared to the present day are especially delighted with a lacquered Chinese tray in the hands of a girl, on which there is a glass of water and cups of chocolate. The picture is also valuable because it depicts for the first time the famous man who has his long and wonderful story. But a glass filled with water is written out in such a way that, according to experts, it clearly demonstrates on the border of two transparent media (Snell's law). This is one of the best praises deserved by J. E. Lyotard. "Chocolate Girl" is not considered a portrait, but a genre scene.
Oldest US trademark
From the moment of writing, fate favors this work - it is very replicated and incredibly popular, including today. Not everyone can boast of this. work XVIII century. What's the matter here? Since 1765, the canvas has been in the Dresden art gallery, and 120 years later, the owner of the oldest American concern Bakers Chocolate, who was engaged in the production of this product, saw it when visiting the famous museum. Henry L. Pierce was fascinated by what Jean Lyotard painted. "Shokoladnitsa" becomes the trademark of the company. La Belle Chocolatière lovely chocolate girl”) - the logo, approved two years later, went down in history as the first and oldest trademark in the USA and one of the oldest in the world.
A wide and unsurpassed gesture of the USSR
In the Soviet Union, this painting became especially popular when, in 1955, the paintings received by the country in the form of war trophies were returned to the Dresden Gallery by the will of N. S. Khrushchev.
Most refurbished by the best Soviet masters masterpieces before being sent were exhibited from May 2 to August 20, and people from all over the vast country were in a hurry to say goodbye to the paintings, among which were famous painting, which was created by Jean Etienne Lyotard - "Chocolate Girl".
Jean-Etienne Lyotard. Chocolate girl. Pastel, parchment. 82.5x52.5 cm. 1743-1745 Gallery of Old Masters in Dresden
It is not known for certain who posed for Lyotard. There are many legends about this. The most popular one says that we have before us the daughter of a ruined nobleman.
The prince who came to the cafe liked her so much that he decided to marry the girl. And before the wedding, he ordered her portrait in the outfit in which he fell in love. That is, in the outfit of a chocolate girl.
Rather, it's just beautiful legend. who played significant role that the picture has become one of the most recognizable in the world. She is almost the main calling card Dresden Gallery (along with).
But I'm not surprised why such a legend was born in principle. Her very picturesque characteristics suggest thoughts about the nobility of the heroine.
See how the chocolate girl bright skin with a soft blush. A girl of simple origin could hardly afford such a thing. After all, she needed to spend a lot of time outdoors.
In addition to working in a cafe, you also have to do housework: carry water from a well, go to the market or even mess around in the garden. And in this case, her skin would certainly be darker.
Her hands are also very sleek. Lyotard wrote them out with particular tenderness. A working girl couldn't afford that either. Sewing, washing dishes and other household chores would certainly leave their mark.
Jean-Etienne Lyotard. Chocolate (fragment). 1745-1747 Gallery of Old Masters in Dresden Gives the girl and stately posture. To have such a back, it was necessary to follow it with early childhood. And this was possible only within the framework of a noble family.
In addition, Lyotard picked up incredible colors. Golden-ocher color of the corset. Grey-blue skirt. Pale pink cap with a blue ribbon. Snow-white color of the apron and scarf. All colors are light, emphasizing the feeling of freshness and well-groomed.
If the artist had chosen other colors, then the impression of the picture would have been definitely different.
Also note how carefully Lyotard wrote out a glass and a porcelain cup on the girl's tray. You could say they are also high society».
Most likely, it was because of all these “noble” details that the legend of the lady was born. blue blood who came into service due to financial problems families.
But something tells me that it's all about the artist Lyotard himself. He clearly had fine taste and knew how to create nobility where it was not in such quantity. And willingly flattered his models.
Jean-Etienne Lyotard. Portrait of Marie Joseph of Saxony, Dauphine of France. 1751 Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam This was the Rococo era. Art was supposed to be light and bring beauty to people. Lyotard himself said that painting is just a mirror that reflects the most beautiful of the real world.
