Fragonard's Childhood Joys Celebrated in Grasse Exhibition

The Musée Jean-Honoré Fragonard in Grasse presents "Fragonard, l'enfant chéri de Grasse," an exhibition running from June 19 to October 18, 2026, focusing on the artist's depictions of childhood. Curated by Carole Blumenfeld, a PhD in art history and former fellow of the French Academy in Rome, the show brings together about thirty works from public and private collections. It highlights Fragonard's intimate scenes of maternal love and family happiness, a theme that in 1775 drew harsh criticism from the art establishment, which accused him of taking "small unknown paths" in a review titled "Discours sur l'état actuel de la peinture." At that time, Jacques-Louis David's neoclassical style was gaining prominence. The exhibition notes that Fragonard's approach echoes Jean-Jacques Rousseau's pedagogical treatise "Émile, or On Education," published twenty years earlier, which advocated for learning through experience and respect for the child's nature. Fragonard himself was cherished by his parents and aunt before moving to Paris at age six to study under Jean Siméon Chardin and François Boucher. The museum is located at 14 Rue Jean Ossola in Grasse.