Charles de La Fosse (1636-1716)

This two-volume box presents the life and work of Charles de La Fosse (1636-1716), King Louis XIV’s painter. From his apprenticeship with Charles Le Brun to his Italian and Flemish influences, Volume I follows the steps in the evolution of de La Fosse’s style, marked by drawings and colours, and the aesthetic shakeup of the period, prefiguring the Rococo movement. Volume II presents a compilation of de La Fosse’s paintings and drawings, as well as his iconography.

In the 1670s in France, during the reign of the young, glorious Louis XIV, the “Grand Goût” was essentially embodied by the Italian painting of Bologna, with the Carracci family, Domenichino and Albani, and French painting, with Nicolas Poussin, Pierre Mignard and Charles Le Brun. In less than thirty years, from 1680 to 1715, the King, his family and private collectors turned away from the moral, austere genre in favour of pleasant paintings with theatrical religiosity or erotic mythology. France had never before seen such a change in tastes. There were, of course, many reasons for this.

For the first time, this book analyses this transitional period which is still largely unknown, with its quarrels, the confrontation between Italian and Flemish influences, the interests of the patrons with their love of their newfound freedom, etc.

See Charles de La Fosse’s work at the Palace of Versailles as part of the exhibition “Charles de La Fosse (1636-1716), The Triumph of Colour” from 24 February to 24 May 2015.

Co-publisher: Editions Faton
Authors: Clémentine Gustin-Gomez
Volume I: 300 pages/ Volume II: 352 pages
Binding: full canvas, rounded back and conventional stitching.
Format: 23x30 cm
ISBN: 978-2-87844-083-8
Publication date: December 2006
Language: French