Who painted The Ungrateful Son?

The Ungrateful Son was painted by Jean-Baptiste Greuze in 1770.

Where can I see The Ungrateful Son?

The Ungrateful Son is held by National Gallery of Art.

What movement is The Ungrateful Son?

The Ungrateful Son is associated with Romanticism.

Artwork

The Ungrateful Son

Jean-Baptiste Greuze , 1770

The Ungrateful Son is a chalk drawing by the Romanticist artist Jean-Baptiste Greuze. It dates from 1770 and is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art. Created circa 1770, *The Ungr ateful Son* is a red‑chalk drawing on brown laid paper, later bounded by a thin black ink line.

About this work

Overview

Created circa 1770, *The Ungr ateful Son* is a red‑chalk drawing on brown laid paper, later bounded by a thin black ink line. The French artist Jean‑Baptiste Greuze, active in the latter half of the eighteenth century, employed the work to explore a moral vignette through a single, expressive figure.

Subject & Meaning

The composition presents a young man turned slightly away, his shoulders and head rendered in profile. The figure’s down‑turned gaze and loosely curled hair convey a sense of remorse or indifference, echoing Greuze’s interest in depicting ethical dilemmas and the emotional undercurrents of everyday life.

Technique & Style

Greuze applied red chalk in swift, gestural strokes, allowing the pigment to press into the paper and leave visible indentations that suggest texture in the hair and skin. The drawing’s loose line work emphasizes movement, while the later addition of a black ink framing line serves to delineate the image’s boundaries without altering the original chalk marks.

History & Provenance

The piece belongs to Greuze’s corpus of genre drawings that complement his larger oil paintings and engravings. Though the exact ownership trail is not fully documented, the work is typical of his practice of producing preparatory sketches that explore narrative themes before committing them to finished paintings.