Smoker's Case

Smoker's Case
Artist: Chardin
Oil painting on canvas; Size: 32.5x40cm; Louvre, Paris.

Smoker's Case is one of Chardin's most famous still life paintings. There is an opening case in the oil painting. There are some articles that the smoker used. By the appearance, the dark red case had faded. We can see it is an old case and had been used for a long time. The oil painting composition is quite an art. The case is sharing a big viewing angle and space, especially the slanting smoking pipe, broken the stiff arrangement of the still life oil painting. The painting became lively and interesting. And we can see the different texture of the bronze, porcelain and glass cups. Chardin showed his ingenuity on still life.
And the component of lines, the painting color all achieved a perfect balance and harmonious.
Another important matter is Chardin didn't care about how to show a pot, a case and the pipe on the painting canvas, and he didn't pay attention to the still life more similar to real things. For the artist Chardin wanted to depict the aesthetic feeling based on the articles. They had independent meaning and value. Or we can say they had become an art form. Particularly the painting skill, Chardin knew the painting color performance and the distinctive texture. That's why the articles in his oil painting canvas are always heavy, solid and in a high quality sense. Chartin's realistic oil paintings were respected and popular in French.
Viewing his paintings, it's easy to get a warm feeling and rich flavor of life. In Chardin's paintings, the simple still life looks very beautiful and touching. Chardin was a leading artist that brought the traditional painting art to modern art. Similar as Cezanne, he was interested in the still life on tables. Chardin analyzed the still life and sought the value of the painting art itself. He paid close attention to the aesthetic feeling by what the eyes could see. Chardin's painting art was unique, the insisted his individuality and ideas guiding artistic or literary creation.
Chardin created many still life paintings and genre painting to reflect the temperament and interest of ordinary life. His oil painting contrasted sharply with the Rococo art in the same time. Meanwhile, he brought the painting art to the common people. Chardin has an important position in French art history.