Jean Baptiste GreuzeFrench, 1725–1805La surprise
Can I see it?
Unknown
Where is “La surprise” now? Collection: Musée Condé, Chantilly. Unknown.
Chantilly, France
The owner is known; whether it is on view today is not.
- In this state since
- Source
- The museum
Details
- Accession number
- PE 394
What it shows
In the catalog
Sources
- Musée Condé
- Image: Musée Condé — © Réunion des musées nationaux - utilisation soumise à autorisation; Ministère de la Culture (France), base Joconde
In the life of Jean Baptiste Greuze
The whole life1769–1804
The quarrel with the Academy and his withdrawal from the Salons
Greatly incensed by the director’s words, Greuze quarrels with his confrères and ceases to exhibit until 1804, when the Revolution had thrown open the doors of the Academy to all the world.
1789–1799
The Revolution years: seclusion and the Nine Sisters lodge
During the Great French Revolution Greuze lives in seclusion and keeps out of politics, although he is a Freemason and belongs to the well-known lodge Les Neuf Sœurs.
c. 1800
Ruin and oblivion
Towards the end of his life Greuze, who had considerable wealth, loses it in risky ventures and through his wife’s ruinous spending; he is left almost in poverty, forgotten by contemporaries whose tastes had been taken over by Jacques-Louis David’s new painting.
