Jean-Étienne Liotard's Breakfast Scenes Reveal 18th-Century Aristocratic Luxury
Since its acquisition by the National Gallery in London in 1754, Jean-Étienne Liotard's pastel artwork, The Lavergne Family Breakfast, has remained unseen by the public. The painting features a woman watching a girl, dressed in elegant attire, as she dips a biscuit into coffee, with the girl's paper curls suggesting a morning atmosphere. In the 18th century, coffee and chocolate were considered luxury drinks. Although now regarded as Liotard's most significant piece, his contemporaries preferred The Chocolate Girl (c. 1743), which Francesco Algarotti bought in 1745, calling it flawless. Liotard's exceptional skill is evident in his meticulous depiction of porcelain and glass. He also painted his wife in A Dutch Girl at Breakfast (1756), displayed at Amsterdam's Rijksmuseum.
Key facts
- Jean-Étienne Liotard painted The Lavergne Family Breakfast in 1754
- The National Gallery in London acquired the painting in 1754 and has never displayed it publicly
- Liotard used thick pastels to create dimensional, pottery-like reflections on tea sets
- The painting shows a girl with paper curls in her hair, indicating she slept in them overnight
- Coffee and chocolate were affluent beverages in 18th-century elite households
- Francesco Algarotti purchased The Chocolate Girl in 1745 and called it a Holbein in pastel
- Liotard's A Dutch Girl at Breakfast (1756) depicts his wife enjoying morning coffee
- Liotard's pastel works were worth more than large oil paintings by contemporary London artists
Entities
Artists
- Jean-Étienne Liotard
- Francesco Algarotti
Institutions
- National Gallery
- Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister
- Rijksmuseum
Locations
- London
- UK
- Dresden
- Germany
- Amsterdam
- Netherlands
- Paris
- Vienna