Portrait de Bergeret 1765 - 1775

Jean-Honoré Fragonard made this sanguine drawing of Monsieur Bergeret during the height of the Enlightenment in France. A society enamored with reason, the Enlightenment also paved the way for a rising merchant class. Here, Fragonard depicts Bergeret, perhaps a member of this new class, with a level of comfort and ease that speaks to a shifting social landscape. There’s a distinct lack of the aristocratic pretense often seen in formal portraiture of the time. Bergeret is portrayed with a certain corpulence, his wig slightly disheveled, yet he exudes an undeniable confidence. His gaze is direct, almost challenging. Fragonard, known for his more lighthearted and sensual works, here captures a man who seems to embody the changing tides of French society, a society on the brink of revolution. This portrait offers a glimpse into the complex interplay between identity, class, and representation in pre-Revolutionary France.