Chardin

Rosenberg's concise pk analysis of the 18th-century Parisian painter Jean Baptiste Simeon Chardin, known predominantly for his harmonious still lifes, is appreciative yet fair-minded. Chardin, born in 1699, apprenticed at the studios of the artists Cazes and Coypel, beginning in 1718. Admitted to the Royal Academy in 1728 on the basis of his highly regarded still lifes The Skate and The Sideboard , the painter owed little, according to Rosenberg, to the Academy's ``official precepts,'' showing ``small inclination to be trained as one of those painters of historical scenes then considered to be the only real artists.'' The author touches upon Chardin's ``special contribution'' to the genre of still life--``a subtle interplay of light and shade, a softening of the outlines,'' and the famous ``thick and clotted brushwork''--and examines the painter's ``incapacity to paint from the imagination,''p. 47 relying instead on keeping his subject right before his eyes. Rosenberg's informative text is accompanied by handsome illustrations of Chardin's work, including many of his figure paintings. The author also includes critical comments from artists and writers, such as Diderot, van Gogh and Malraux. Rosenberg ( Laurent de la Hyre ) is head curator of the Department of Painting for the Louvre. (Aug.)