The Two Sisters c. 1769 - 1770

Jean-Honoré Fragonard made this oil painting, The Two Sisters, using traditional fine art materials. What's interesting here is the way Fragonard uses the materiality of oil paint to evoke something beyond the surface appearance of his subjects. See how he builds up the dresses and the girls' hair with thick brushstrokes? This impasto technique gives the impression of lavishly textured silk. The way he handles the paint also suggests the social context of the painting: it would have been commissioned by a wealthy family during the Rococo period, a time when luxurious textiles and elaborate garments were signs of status. The amount of work involved in producing these fine clothes would have been considerable, employing the skills of spinners, weavers, dyers, and dressmakers. Fragonard's loose, painterly style almost obscures all this labor, instead capturing a sense of carefree elegance, of a leisured class. By paying attention to the materials and techniques of The Two Sisters, we can understand the painting not just as a portrait, but as a window into the social and economic conditions of its time.