bourgeois as well as to aristocrats (Percival, 2012, 42). From the early eighteenth century, a rising
financier class in Paris sought to emulate its aristocratic superiors by vying with them in the
commissioning of art. They sought decorative and cabinet paintings in particular. Chardin was among the
beneficiaries of such new commercial opportunities (Conisbee, 1981, 113, 163). There was a growing
sense of a newly competitive, nuanced market, with a range of prices demanded for variously ambitious
and sized works of art, prices depending on the wealth and rank of those commissioning them, with royal
households generally paying the highest prices. As many artists were also aware of the economic, social
and political factors that could impact on such a market, they produced a sensible mix of selfchosen and
customized work, always having something in hand for unexpected commercial opportunities (Siegfried,
2007, 29–30).
Wealthier Catholic and continental countries had earlier overshadowed Britain’s artistic culture, with
France, Italy and the Netherlands competing for the most prestige. However, Britain became in the
eighteenth century Europe’s most prosperous nation (Craske, 2000, 11). London hosted a cosmopolitan
artistic culture. Later in the century, rapid urban growth across Europe fostered international competition
and a desire to emulate the cultural achievements of ancient Rome and Greece (Craske, 1997, 28). Many
artists felt that their prospects in London might be better than in already saturated markets such as that in
Rome. In addition, Britain had acquired a reputation for upholding the values of liberty, Enlightenment
and prosperity that were felt to favor artistic production; it had also acquired a reputation for its
championing of commerce (Voltaire, 1964 [1734], 45–47; Brewer, 1997, xxv–xxvi). Paris became a
major center for the display of art from the 1760s onwards (Berger, 1999, 202). However, war and
revolution could easily upset the art trade. This was the case in France during the Seven Years War and
the Revolution. In the years leading up to the Revolution grain shortages affected attitudes to luxuries of
all kinds, from elaborate hair styles to art collecting (Falaky, 2013, 45–46). During this period even the
royal family had to rein in its taste for exclusive goods and the Queen, Marie Antoinette (reigned 1774–
1792), came under severe criticism for any signs of excess. PostRevolutionary and Napoleonic wars
also ensured that trade was disrupted, as naval blockades were imposed on some ports in Britain and the
wealthy were prevented from traveling to the continent for the Grand Tour, which had previously
encouraged the purchase and shipping back home of goods obtained directly from artists or their agents.
Canaletto was among those artists affected by such difficulties. His agent in Rome, Joseph Smith (1682–
1770), had been accustomed to wining and dining British patrons in particular when their Grand Tour
itineraries brought them to Venice. But the War of the AustroHungarian succession (1740–1748)
stemmed the flow of British clients to the point where Canaletto traveled to Britain to find more secure
sources of patronage, particularly from the Duke of Richmond.
International rivalries affected the balance of the art trade across Europe, as did the tendency for artists to
travel to countries where they felt their prospects of finding work would be best. The market reflected
tastes and values that changed with time and place. For example, Dutch and Flemish genre paintings were
popular throughout the eighteenth century, particularly in France, but they assumed there in the second half
of the century the preeminence enjoyed previously by Italian painting, which was considered inadequate
for the moralizing culture that gained ground in the 1760s and 1770s. Works produced by French artists
also became more marketable in eighteenthcentury Paris, as the dominance of Italian art waned
(Percival, 2012, 98). Meanwhile, in Spain prints of Italian works (e.g. by the Tiepolos) overtook in the
later eighteenth century the country’s earlier taste for prints of French art (Craske, 1997, 250–251;
Yarrington, 2001, 175). There were, however, some persistent trends: classical Italian sculptures, and
casts and copies of these, remained predominant in private gallery collections throughout Europe.
Issues of national and social identity affected tastes. The growing popularity in France of Dutch and
Flemish works representing the “natural” and “humble” enhanced the desire for Chardin’s genre paintings