Le Bénédicité

6 February 1724

Master of the Académie de Saint-Luc

On 6 February 1724 Chardin is admitted to the Académie de Saint-Luc with the title of master; there is no reliable information about his training before that day, only that he was a pupil of Pierre-Jacques Cazes and possibly took advice from Noël Coypel. By helping Coypel paint accessories, he mastered the depiction of inanimate objects and resolved to devote himself to them; he will give up the title of master in 1729.

1728

The exhibition of young artists on the Place Dauphine

In 1728, at the Parisian “exhibition of the young” (l'Exposition de la Jeunesse) on the Place Dauphine, Chardin shows several paintings, among them the still life “The Ray”. It so strikes Nicolas de Largillière, an honorary member of the Royal Academy, that he proposes showing the young artist's works within the Academy and later insists that Chardin compete for a place in it.

September 1728

Admitted to the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture

In September 1728 Chardin's candidacy is accepted and he is entered in the Royal Academy's records as a “painter of flowers, fruits and genre scenes”; his admission is tied to the presentation of “The Ray” and “The Buffet”. The following year he cedes his position in the Académie de Saint-Luc.

1731

Married: Marguerite Saintard

1737

Regular showings at the Salon

From 1737 Chardin exhibits regularly at the Salon. He will prove a “dedicated academician”, attending the Academy's meetings for fifty years and serving in turn as counsellor, treasurer and secretary.

1744

Married: Marguerite Pouget