#singerie

The Grande Singerie of the Château de Chantilly, a boudoir originally intended to house the porcelain of the Duke of Bourbon, offers a decor characteristic of the rocaille style mixing antics and Chinoiserie treated in a fanciful or allegorical way. It owes its name to the fact that the scenes represent monkeys serving men and vice versa.

These paintings on paneling, attributed to Christophe Huet (1700-1759), present an exceptional example of the taste quite common in the 18th century for Chinese oriental exoticism.

In 1710 the Château de Chantilly returned to Louis-Henri Bourbon-Condé (1692-1740), Duke of Bourbon who continued the development undertaken by his grandfather, the great Condé. The decor of the small castle was thus remodeled in 1737, the date of the execution of the Grande Singerie which is attributed to Christophe Huet, a renowned painter of paintings of animals and birds. But for a long time we hesitated about the author (Watteau, Claude Gillot, Audran?) because the archives do not reveal any payment made by the duke for the decor of the two antics: the Grande Singerie is one of the large apartments on the first floor while the Petite Singerie is located on the ground floor. However, recent restorations have revealed the date of execution of the boudoir: the inscription “1737” is painted on the block of marble that the monkey sculptor models. This is how we were able to eliminate the long-suspected authors: Watteau, who died in 1721, Claude Gillot, who died in 1722 and Claude Audran, who died in 1734. From then on, the decorations of the Singeries were attributed to Christophe Huet who, moreover, worked for the Condé family in 1734-1735. The workmanship and style of two other decorations still visible and created by Huet made it possible to make these connections: the Cabinet des Singes of the Hôtel de Rohan (today National Archives in Paris) in 1749-1752 and the Chinese Salon of Château de Champs-sur-Marne before 1755.

Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin (French, ) • The Monkey Painter • 1739-1740

Although not a self-portrait in the true sense, I'm including it here because it's so fascinating. The monkey is the artist as subject, gazing away from the canvas at what is perhaps the subject it is painting.

Firstly, there is the Rococo era's obsession with paintings of monkeys. Called Singerie, it is a French term describing visual arts depicting monkeys engaged in human activities. It was at the height of its popularity in mid 18th century France. It is said that even Madame de Pompadour succumbed to the monkey craze!

Secondly, this work serves as a commentary on the state of art and artists in French society at the time. Chardin was a member of the French Royal Academy, yet he was critical of the academy's narrow-minded attitudes toward what was considered art worthy of its stamp of approval. This archaic focus begged the question – does the Royal Academy want artists that can think critically, or does it simply want imitators of their narrow rules? Hence, a monkey can be trained to paint but a true artist analyzes and discerns myriad aspects of their subjects.

Pierre-Louis de Surugue (French, 1716–1772) • The Monkey Antiquarian • 1743 • after Jean-Baptiste Siméon Chardin

Médium entièrement enduit à la colle de peau de lapin (gesso) et gravé. Feuille d'or posée traditionnellement par mixtion à l'eau, polie à l'agate.

Singerie peinte à la colle de peau et pigments.