Portrait of a Young Woman

Jean Honoré Fragonard - Portrait of a Young Woman - The Metropolitan Museum of Art As with many of Fragonard’s most engaging figures, this painting may be a portrait or an imaginary figure. In either case, the artist takes the opportunity to exhibit his technique of applying thin, warmly toned glazes; the fluid brushstrokes that meld adjacent forms are particularly evident in the lower section, where fingers and drapery seem to blend one into the other. These technical features are further energized by the suggestion of wind that sweeps the young woman's powdered hair across her shoulder.