Soap Bubbles (painting)

Soap Bubbles is an oil painting on canvas by Jean-Baptiste-Simeon-Chardin. It was painted sometime between 1733 and 1735. It measures 93 cm x 74.5 cm (36.61 in x 29.33 in.). It hangs in the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC. Chardin chose homely subjects that proved popular with all classes of French society. For example, he painted several pictures of boys playing.
The National Gallery of Art writes, "For the 18th–century viewer, bubbles were a form of entertainment. But they also were a symbol of the transience of life. The subject was popular; Chardin made at least three and probably four versions of this painting."
The National Gallery of Art continues: "Chardin 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."