Jean-Étienne Liotard - The chocolate girl

Jean-Étienne Liotard may not be the most famous name in 18th century art. But as a master of pastel drawing, there really are very few better - and this rare, gracefulness of hand is no more apparent than in Liotard’s outstanding masterpiece; The Chocolate Girl.

The Chocolate Girl - 1744 (Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister, Dresden)

This is one of those portraits where, frankly, not very much is going on.

Thus, if seen on a gallery wall alongside other more “action packed” artworks of the 18th century, perhaps it would be easy to overlook this unnamed maid, carrying her tray of drinking chocolate.

But in many ways, the relative “mundaneness” here is the whole beauty of a work like this.

Much like we see in the domestic scenes of Johannes Vermeer - it is the subtlety, the normal, and the quiet dignity of this piece which makes a work like this so captivating.

And the closer we look - the more we are made to marvel at Liotard’s skill.

Though he did work across other materials like oil paint and enamel (while simultaneously balancing his other career as an art dealer and writer) - Pastel was always Liotard’s favoured medium.

He said that he considered it “more beautiful than any other kind of painting” for its “beauty, vivacity, freshness and lightness”.

Plus, it allowed him to practice what he called “l’élimination des touches,” - which essentially meant eliminating any trace of brushstroke in his work, thus making the image seem as naturalistic as possible.

This talent led to him becoming a highly in demand artist throughout his life - working on commissions for many of the leading royal families around Europe.

But again, while these other works marry carry more hints of grandeur or opulence - it is in the sheer simplicity of his Chocolate girl where we find him at his very best.

And still to this day, there are very few other artists who have ever handled pastels with such obvious love and affection as this.

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