Soap Bubbles

Jean–Siméon Chardin was celebrated by his contemporaries for his still lifes painted with thick strokes and great attention to detail. In this composition a boy poised on a window sill blows a soap bubble. Both he and the younger boy next to him are fully absorbed in the activity; however, for the 18th–century viewer, bubbles were not only a form of entertainment, but also symbols of the transience of life. The subject was popular in 17th–century Dutch prints that were widely disseminated in France; Chardin made at least three and probably four versions of this painting.Although Chardin gives the illusion of capturing two youths in a candid moment, he has rigorously constructed his composition. The boys are framed by a rectangular stone window, the sharp rectangles offset by the hunched youth whose arms and head form a triangle. This triangular shape is echoed in the hat of the younger boy. The focus of the composition, however, is the circular, translucent bubble, which glistens against the warm brown tones of the canvas.