Nicolas Lancret
Nicolas Lancret (22 January 1690 – 14 September 1743) was a French painter. Nicolas Lancret was born in Paris, he was a brilliant depicter of light comedy which reflected the tastes and manners of French society during the regency of the Duke of Orleans and, later, early reign of King Louis XV. • Illustration — Marie-Anne de Camargo (a famous dancer), 1730
Also recorded as Nicholas Lancret · Nicolas Lan Cray · Nicolas Lancraft · Nicolas Lancrete
Nicolas Lancret
Nicolas Lancret · Paris, commerce d'art dans les années 1990 · Public domain
- Name
- Nicolas Lancret
- Born
- 22 January 1690
- Birthplace
- Paris, France
- Died
- 14 September 1743
- Known for
- Painting
- Nationality
- Kingdom of France
- Occupation
- painter · draftsperson
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Documentary summary
Nicolas Lancret (22 January 1690 – 14 September 1743) was a French painter. Nicolas Lancret was born in Paris, he was a brilliant depicter of light comedy which reflected the tastes and manners of French society during the regency of the Duke of Orleans and, later, early reign of King Louis XV. • Illustration — Marie-Anne de Camargo (a famous dancer), 1730
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Nicolas Lancret (1689–1743) was a draftsperson and painter and a national of the Kingdom of France. The draftsperson was born and died in Paris.
Nicolas Lancret worked in Paris. The draftsperson was active in painting.
Works include The Ham Dinner. Languages used include French.
Composed from admitted, traceable facts · 30 September 2026
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Documentary evidence
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wikidata · Q188172 · wikipedia · Nicolas Lancret
In this article
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Nicolas Lancret • Born — 22 January 1690 • Birthplace — Paris, France • Died — 14 September 1743 • Place of death — Paris, France • Known for — Painting
Career
Career
Lancret's first master was Pierre d'Ulin, but his acquaintance with and admiration for Watteau induced him to leave Ulin for Gillot, whose pupil Watteau had been. Lancret, who remained a pupil of Gillot from 1712 to 1713, was heavily influenced by the older painter, whose typical slender figures can be found in many of his pupil's younger works. Two pictures painted by Lancret and exhibited on the Place Dauphine had a great success, which laid the foundation of his fortune, and, it is said, estranged Watteau, who had been complimented as their author. In 1718 he was received as an Academician, from thereon becoming a very respected artist, especially among the admirers of Watteau. He completed works to decorate the Palace of Versailles, while his style was later to prove popular with Frederick the Great. Lancret's popularity was reflected by the decision to make him a councillor at the Academie in 1735.
Personal life
Personal life
Lancret was single for much of his life; however in 1741 he married the 18-year-old grandchild of Boursault, author of Aesop at Court. Supposedly Lancret was induced to marry her after finding her and her dying mother living in poverty in an attic room and hearing that the daughter was soon to be compelled to enter a convent. Lancret died of pneumonia on 14 September 1743.
Gallery
Gallery
• Illustration — Italian Comedians by a Fountain, Wallace Collection, 1718 • Illustration — La Servante justifiée, 1735-1740 Metropolitan Museum • Illustration — Les oies du père Philippe, c 1736 Metropolitan Museum • Illustration — Le jeu des quatre-coins, Statens Museum for Kunst • Illustration — Fastening the Skate, Nationalmuseum, 1743 • Illustration — Les Heures du Jour (The Hours of the Day) - le matin National Gallery London • Illustration — Les Heures du Jour (The Hours of the Day) - le midi, 1741 National Gallery London • Illustration — Les Heures du Jour (The Hours of the Day) - l'apres-dinee, 1741 National Gallery London • Illustration — Les Heures du Jour (The Hours of the Day) - la soiree, 1741 National Gallery London
General studies
General studies
Adapted from: * * * *
Reference works
Reference works
* * *
Flooded rural landscape.
Collins, Tudor Washington, 1898-1970, photographer · Auckland Museum · API data Catalogue record Photo
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 2 entries
1689
Nicolas Lancret was born on 22 January 1689.
1743
Nicolas Lancret died on 14 September 1743.
Places
Named by the record
Places
Only places the record itself states, plotted where the house gazetteer settles their coordinates. Nothing is inferred from a name or a nationality.
Nicolas Lancret was born at Paris.
Birthplace
Nicolas Lancret died at Paris.
Deathplace
Work, style and legacy
• Illustration — Le Déjeuner de jambon, Chantilly, musée Condé, 1735 Lancret completed numerous paintings, a significant proportion of which (over eighty) were engraved. Although he completed several portraits and historical pieces his favourite subjects were balls, fairs, village weddings and so forth. In this respect he was typical of Rococo artists. Some have claimed Lancret's work is significantly inferior to that of Watteau. In drawing and in painting his touch is often considered intelligent but dry; art historian Michael Levey remarked that Lancret was 'no poet but a charming essayist'. Lancret's characteristics are due possibly to the fact that he had been for some time in training under an engraver. It is generally considered that the artist produced his best work towards the latter end of his life, displaying, in the minds of several art historians, an increasing ability to create a sense of harmony between art and nature, as in Montreir de lanterne magique, and a willingness to lend his, now bulkier, figures a firmer place in his compositions. These changes displayed the influence of later Watteaus like L'Enseigne de Gersaint. Lancret's last painting, Family in a Garden, The National Gallery, is considered by Levey to be his 'masterpiece'. The scene, which depicts a family taking coffee, has an intimacy and hint of humour that are considered captivating. The work's flowing lines, Rococoesque harmony of pastel colours, painterly style and charming subject matter (of a wide eyed young girl, surrounded by her happy family and natural, yet un-threatening setting, trying her first taste of coffee) are seen to display a delicate sense of vitality and freshness that anticipate the works of both Thomas Gainsborough and Jean-Honoré Fragonard. The British Museum possesses an admirable series of studies by Lancret in red chalk, and the National Gallery, London, shows four paintings—the "Four Ages of Man" (engraved by Desplaces and l'Armessin), cited by d'Argenville among the principal works of Lancret.
Primary material
Documents and archives
Institutional database
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q188172: Nicolas Lancret
Scholarly · Wikimedia Foundation
reference work
- “Nicolas Lancret”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Grasselli, Margaret Morgan. Renaissance to revolution: French drawings from the National Gallery of Art, 1500-1800. National Gallery of Art. 108. 2009. 9781848220430.
- 2.Michael Levey. Painting and Sculpture in France, 1700-1789. Yale University Press.
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
Institutional database
Wikidata, structured authority record Q188172: Nicolas LancretWikimedia Foundation
Institutional witnessreference work
Secondary witness
People, houses and institutions
Knowledge graph
People, houses and institutions
Teachers, collaborators, publishers and institutions recorded against this person, each on a stated basis.
Further particulars
Held on the record
Further particulars
Open the remaining particulars
The authorities additionally record the headings Nicholas Lancret, Nicolas Lan Cray, Nicolas Lancraft, Nicolas Lancrete and Nicolas Lang Cre. His recorded language was French. Formation and teaching. He trained under Pierre Dulin and Claude Gillot. His recorded influences include Jean-Antoine Watteau.
Identity and origins
Recognition and collections
Work by Nicolas Lancret is
Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Städel Museum, Auckland Art Gallery and Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum
Nicolas Lancret was born in Paris.
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 14 August 2026.
Elsewhere in Paintings
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