Thursday, November 19, 2009

Fragonard's Dangerous Liaisons

Before we had Glenn Close to exercise her great acting skills in the film, Dangerous Liaisons, there was the novel, Liaisons Dangereuses by Pierre Choderlos. The book was published in multiple volumes in 1782 and was popular due to the scandalous content. Of course the content was probably only scandalous to those who weren't aware of just how true to life it could be!

When the 1796 edition of the book came out it had its own version of a star-studded cast. The saucy painter, Fragonard was a perfect pick for an illustrator. He was well-known, his art sensual, and his pencil could tell a story. Here are some of his illustrations for Liaisons Dangereuses.


5 comments:

  1. He certainly know how to draw a sexy male leg. The first illustration is pretty hot.

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  2. There's no doubt what this tale is about when you look at those images. Awesome.

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  3. Stunning, I had no idea that he had done the illustrations for the book. I would love to have a copy of the novel with those illustrations, perhaps an annotated version.

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  4. I liked the book very much. Thanks for posting Fragonard's beautiful illustrations!

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  5. You are so right, Elizabeth Kerri Mahon! A fully annotated version of this novel with illustrations by Fragonard would be amazing! I have loved his work since I say "Young Girl Reading" in an Art Appreciation Course offered at school that my mother made me attend. Thanks, mum!!

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