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COLLECTION DETAILS

Happy Fecundity Happy Fecundity

1773-76/Oil on canvas

54.0 x 64.8 cm

On view

Permanent Exhibition: From the Renaissance to the 20th Century – 500 Years of Western Paintings

Exhibition period:Saturday April 12Sunday June 22, 2025

Permanent Exhibition Gallery 3 in the New Wingof Tokyo Fuji Art Museum

Permanent Exhibition: From the Renaissance to the 20th Century – 500 Years of Western Paintings
Exhibition period: Saturday July 12Monday September 15, 2025
Permanent Exhibition Gallery 3 in the New Wing of Tokyo Fuji Art Museum

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SUMMARY

This oval painting is commonly known by the titles Happy Family or Happy Fecundity. Besides this painting, there are four other versions of this composition confirmed, all of which are identical (National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., etc.). The subject matter of this painting was very popular at the time. In the center of the painting, a young mother in a white blouse and red skirt is sitting holding a little child, with older children playing around her. From the outside of the window on the left, a father is looking into the house along with a donkey. Behind the mother could be a maid and her child, both of who are leaning on each other, portrayed like a silhouette. The domestic animals—a dog and a donkey—also appear as a part of the family. The figures, taking relaxed poses and casting a glance at each other, convey a friendly atmosphere and show their deeper connections with each other. Meanwhile, the upper part of the room is an old, large stone structure, looking like an ancient Italian ruin, which is unmatched with the scene of this happy family gathering. Onions and a lump of meat are placed on the top of the pedestal on the right (which could be an old altar due to that it is decorated with the sheep’s head and garland of flowers. If so, this building is a temple). A container like a metal deep pot can be seen on the top of the pedestal, as well. Besides a happy family that lives humbly but is blessed with many children, or young parents and their children depicted against the background of fantastic structure, some facts that are invisible to the eyes are still hidden in this painting. One is that this family implies an image of an “ideal family” conceived based on the philosophy—that the family is the basis of society and love in the family is the foundation of morality—of the 18th-century French thinker Rousseau. Another is that Fragonard himself was blessed with a very happy home life and displayed his talents in creating not only sensual Rococo-style paintings that were popular at the time, but also such a naïve painting as this one. And furthermore, this painting is a remake of traditional subjects of Christian art, such as the Virgin and Child, the Holy Family, and the Adoration of the Shepherds, using a contemporary style and stylish subject matter. This proves that Fragonard was not just a genre painter, but also had excellent knowledge and skills as a religious painter. The young woman in red and blue clothes holding her little child traditionally represents the Virgin Mary and the Christ child. Therefore, this work can be said to be a typical of Fragonard, who “embodied the free and new spirit of the 18th century while passing on the traditions of painting.”

ARTIST

Jean-Honoré Fragonard

1732-1806

List of artworks by the same artist

INFORMATION

Exhibiton history

Tuesday, May 26 - Sunday, August 16, 2020

Through the Eyes of René Huyghe: The Splendor of French Paintings — Formation and Transformation of the “Grande Manière” Osaka City Museum of Fine Arts (Osaka, Japan)

Tuesday, February 4 - Sunday, March 29, 2020

Through the Eyes of René Huyghe: The Splendor of French Paintings — Formation and Transformation of the “Grande Manière” Kyushu National Museum (Fukuoka, Japan)

Saturday, January 12 - Saturday, May 4, 2019

500 Years of Western Paintings: Collection of Tokyo Fuji Art Museum Shanghai PowerLong Museum (Shanghai, China)

Tuesday, October 23 - Sunday, December 23, 2018

500 Years of Western Paintings: Collection of Tokyo Fuji Art Museum Tsinghua University Art Museum (Beijing, China)

Friday, April 18 - Sunday, May 25, 2003

The Great Masters of Art Fukuoka Art Museum (Fukuoka, Japan)

Saturday, September 7 - Sunday, September 29, 2002

Four Centuries of Occidental Paintings from the Tokyo Fuji Art Museum Collection SOGO Museum of Art (Kanagawa, Japan)

Sunday, October 1 - Sunday, December 3, 2000

Masterpieces of Western Paintings from the Renaissance to the 20th Century National Dr. Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall (Taipei, Taiwan)

Friday, October 16 - Thursday, November 5, 1992

Masterpieces of European Oil Painting: The Paintings in 20th Century from the Renaissance to Impressionism China Art Gallery (Beijing, China)

Saturday, November 3 - Sunday, December 2, 1990

Masterpieces of European Oil Painting Ho-Am Art Museum (Yongin-gun, Kyunggi-do, South Korea)

Saturday, September 22 - Sunday, October 21, 1990

Masterpieces of European Oil Painting Ho-Am Gallery (Seoul, South Korea)

Origin of collections

Provenance: Ou collection Servat en 1777 (Delaunay grava le tableau Servat en 1777) Ou vente Du Barry, Radix de Saintte Foy, Paris, 17 février 1777, no. 55 Collection Pâris Collection Charpentier, vers 1800 Exhibited: Caracas, Museo de Bellas Atres, Cinco siglos de arte francés, 1977, no.20, reproduit Tokyo, Musée National d’Art occidental, Fragonard, no.56, reproduit en couleur. Exposé également à Kyoto, Musée Municipal, 1980 Paris, Grand Palais, Fragonard, 1987-1988 (catalogue de P. Rosenberg), no.222, reproduit en couleur 「18世紀珠玉のフランス絵画展」、東京富士美術館、1988

Reference

Literature: R. Portalis, Honoré Fragonard, Paris, 1899, p.280 V. Josz, Fragonard du ⅩⅧe siècle, Paris, 1901, pp.141 P.de Nolhac, J.H. Fragonard, Paris, 1906, p.130 E. et J. de Goncourt, L’Art du ⅩⅧe siècle, Ⅲ, Paris, 1914, pp.331, 333 D. Wildenestein et G. Mndel, L’Opera completa di Fragonard, Milan,1972, p.103, no.392, reproduit pl. ⅩⅩⅩⅦ (couleur), pl. ⅩⅩⅩⅧ (détail couleur), p.103, fig.392 T. Burollet, Musée Cognacq-Jay. peintures et dessins, Paris, 1980, pp.241-242, cité sous le no.132 J.S. Hallam,  « The Two Manners of Louis-Léopold Boilly and French Painting in Transition », Art Bulletin, LⅩⅢ, no.4, décembre 1981, p.619, reproduit fig.2é T.P.F Hoving « The Best of the Best », Connoisseur, CCⅫ, no.850, décembre 1982, p.90, reproduit en couleur, pp.90-91 et en couverture (détail) J.P. Cuzin, Jean-Honoré Fragonard, Vie et œuvre, Fribourg-Paris, 1987, p.319,no312, illustré no.321 Notre tableau figurera dans l’ édition révisée de G. Wilden stein, Fragonard, sous le no.367 bis (à praître) 「18世紀珠玉のフランス絵画展」カタログ、no.8、東京富士美術館、1988

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