# Marie-Madeleine Guimard \(Fanciful Figure\) [View the canonical artwork record]() ## Artwork - Artist: [FRAGONARD, Jean-Honoré]() - Date: 1751-1800 - Technique: Oil on canvas, 82 x 65 cm ## Commentary In 1769, Fragonard painted fourteen "fanciful figures" eight of which are now in the Louvre. These spirited portraits, whether painted from life or invented, with highly coloured faces and broad strokes of red and gold, represent the vision of an inspired poet capturing the essence of his subject, whether it is Diderot's ardent features or Mademoiselle Guimard's pleasing, if irregular face and arched bust in a burgundy bodice. Here Fragonard can be compared to Frans Hals or Rembrandt, because his artistic initiatives were nourished by an unusual degree of cultivation. Mademoiselle Guimard was a dancer. <P> <TABLE ALIGN=LEFT CELLPADDING=5 BORDER=1 WIDTH=320 BGCOLOR="\#99CCCC"> <TR VALIGN=MIDDLE><TD><IMG SRC="/support/gif/listen.gif" BORDER=0 VALIGN=MIDDLE> Suggested listening \(streaming mp3, 4 minutes\):<BR><A HREF="\#" onClick="w=window.open \('/music1/19\_cent/rossini\_la\_danza.html', 'newWin', 'scrollbars=yes,status=no,dependent=yes,screenX=0,screenY=0,width=350,height=350'\);w.opener=this;w.focus\(\);return true"><B>Gioacchino Rossini: La Danza</B></A> </TD></TR></TABLE> ## Related artworks - [A Boy as Pierrot]() - [A Game of Horse and Rider]() - [A Game of Hot Cockles]() - [A Young Girl Reading]() - [A Young Girl Sleeping]() - [A Young Scholar]() - [Abbé de Saint-Non \(Fanciful Figure\)]() - [Adoration of the Shepherds]() - [Blindman's Buff \(detail\)]() - [Blindman's Buff]() - [Coresus Sacrificing himself to Save Callirhoe]() - [Cypresses in the Garden Avenue of the Villa]() ## Attribution [Web Gallery of Art]()