CHALK DUST.

Byline: Chris Ledermuller Staff Writer

``This man draws like an angel.'' - Denis Diderot, 1763

Diderot, the prominent French philosopher, encyclopedist and art critic, showered much praise on Jean-Baptiste Greuze (1725-1805), a respected and successful draftsman and painter of the 18th century whose work is now on display at the Getty Center.

Greuze might not be as well-known as other French artists, but his drawings and paintings of French people in everyday situations provide insight into how people lived in France in the 1700s.

The bulk of Greuze's pieces are drawings, mostly red chalk on cream paper. He draws heads and limbs with impeccable detail. Often, Greuze re-created his drawn figures in his paintings.

Greuze's subjects convey deep emotions and humanity. He captures ecstasy, grief and anger hauntingly well. He also ensures that in his works with more than one figure, these expressions can be prominently seen in every face. ``The Drunken Cobbler'' shows a sharp contrast between the giddy father and the grimmer expression on the rest of his family. ``The Angry Wife'' (which he painted following his divorce) also has this contrast, with a frenzied demeanor on the wife and the terrified look of everyone else in the room, even the dog.

Greuze created his share of portraits and paintings depicting the elite (works that put food on the table), but Greuze is at his best capturing - on paper and on canvas - the French working class, how they worked and what they did at home.

``He was naturally gifted,'' said Scott Schaefer, the Getty Center's curator of paintings. ``He had financial ups and downs throughout his life, but he was a very successful artist.''

The Getty has three interrelated Greuze exhibits. Two are works by Greuze himself; the third displays drawings by some of Greuze's contemporaries. ``Greuze the Draftsman'' has 70 of his chalk, ink and pastel drawings on loan from collections in the United States and Europe. ``Greuze the Painter: Los Angeles Works in Context'' takes his paintings found in local museums and places them with other works on loan from the Louvre in Paris, the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia, numerous private collections and New York City's Frick Collection, the only other site where the Greuze exhibit was displayed. ``French Drawings in the Age of Greuze'' assembles 33 pieces by such artists as Francois Boucher, Jean-Antoine Watteau, Gabriel de Saint-Aubin and Jacques-Louis David.

One of the striking works of the exhibit is ``Head of a Woman.'' Using his red-chalk technique, it shows a woman in the throes of ecstasy. Greuze then expanded upon it in an oil version.

Other highlights of the exhibit include ``The Laundress,'' ``Education of a Young Savoyard,'' ``The Wool Winder,'' ``The Spoiled Child,'' ``The Drunken Cobbler'' and ``The Angry Wife.''

All three Greuze exhibitions remain on display through Dec. 1. A series of films by D.W. Griffith and Douglas Sirk, inspired by Greuze's ``The Father's Curse: The Ungrateful Son,'' will run Fridays and Saturdays Oct. 11-26.

JEAN-BAPTISTE GREUZE EXHIBITS

What: Paintings and drawings by the 18th-century French artist, along with drawings from Greuze's contemporaries.

Where: The Getty Center, 1200 Getty Center Drive, West Los Angeles.

When: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday; 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday and Saturday; through Dec. 1.

Tickets: Free; parking reservations required 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays. Information: [phone] or www.getty.edu.

CAPTION(S):

2 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) ``Oh! If Only He Were as Faithful to Me'' (circa 1770)

(2 -- color) ``The Laundress'' (1761) is a sociological snapshot of 18th- century France.