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3 of 3 Items
Jean-Baptiste Greuze (21 August 1725 - 4 March 1805) was a French painter. He did not fit within the early 18th century contemporary Rococo or the Post-French Revolution Neoclassical style. His work emphasized "sentiment," Middle Class, village life scenes, and the moral decay of society relating to the late 18th-century cult of 'sensibility,' bourgeois novel, and drama.
Greuze had great success at the 1755 Salon. Diderot, the philosopher and art critic, praised his work and defined it as "moral paintings." But, Despite Diderot's admiration, the Académie Royale rejected his submission as "Historical Painter" and only acknowledged him as a "genre painter" (a lower title). The humiliation led Greuze to withdrawal from public Exhibition and sank into obscurity. He died in poverty.