Wednesday 22 May 2024

Jean-Antoine Watteau - part 2

 

c1721 Portrait of Antoine Watteau by Rosalba Carriera
pastel on blue laid paper 26.5 x 22.6 cm
Städel Museum, Frankfurt am Main

The son of a roof tiler, Jean-Antoine Watteau (1684-1721) showed a penchant for drawing and painting early in life. At eighteen he was apprenticed to a painter in his native town of Valenciennes. Soon after, with little money and few possessions, he made his way to Paris, where he made a living by copying the works of Titian and Paolo Veronese. There he entered the studio of Claude Audran III, the most renowned decorator in Paris, and met Claude Gillot, a decorator of theatrical scenery. The theatrical qualities of Watteau's paintings and drawings--their artificial illumination, costumes, and painted backdrops--reflect Gillot's influence. Watteau's subjects, often including figures from the commedia dell'arte, reflect his constant observation of the theater and the studies he often drew during performances.

Watteau invented a new type of painting, the fête galante. These large scenes of well-to-do men and women enjoying themselves outdoors allowed him to showcase his talent for conveying the delights and enchantments of nature and led to repeat commissions from such connoisseurs as Pierre Crozat. For years after his death, his compositions remained widely known in Europe through the circulation of engravings and drawings.

J.Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles


This is part 2 of a 5-part series on the works of Jean-Antoine Watteau:


c1710 The Robber of the sparrow's nest
 oil on paper laid on canvas, laid on panel 22.6 x 18.5 cm
National Galleries, Scotland

c1710 The seated woman
etching on paper 11.1 x 7.1 cm
The Clark Art Institute, Williamstown, MA

c1710 The walker seen from the front
etching on paper 11.4 x 7.3 cm
The Clark Art Institute, Williamstown, MA

c1710 Tobit burying the dead
red chalk on laid paper, laid down on an old album sheet
22.8 x 17.3 cm
National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC

c1710 Woman standing, back view
etching and engraving (finished by Henri-Simon) 11.7 x 6.9 cm 
Philadelphia Museum of Art, PA

c1710 Woman walking outside a town
etching and engraving (Finished by Henri-Simon Thomassin)
12.5 x 8.1 cm (sheet) 
Philadelphia Museum of Art, PA

1711 Allegory of winter, or children's parody of a Ball
red chalk on paper 16.2 x 22 cm
Städel Museum, Frankfurt, Germany Städel Museum, Frankfurt, Germany

1711-12 Actors of the Comedie-Francaise
oil on panel 20 x 25 cm
The State Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg, Russia

1711-12 Actors of the Comedie-Francaise
detail

1711-12 Actors of the Comedie-Francaise
detail

c1711-12 A Fête Galante with Falconers
red chalk over graphite on laid paper 18.8 x 34.5 cm
National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC

c1711-12 The Gallant Gardener
red chalk on laid paper 22.9 x 18.1 cm
National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC

1711-15 Study of plants and grasses, with buildings in the background
black chalk and grey wash 18.3 x 23.8 cm
© The Trustees of the British Museum, London

c1711 Fragment of a landscape study with a building
red chalk on paper 15.7 x 13.6 cm
Boijmans Van Beunigen, Rotterdam

c1711 Marriage contract and Country Dance
oil on canvas 47 x 55 cm
© Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid

c1711 Marriage contract and Country Dance
detail

c1711 Marriage contract and Country Dance
detail

c1711 Two Actors (one with a guitar) and a dog
red chalk on paper 13.6 x 15.7 cm
Boijmans Van Beunigen, Rotterdam

1712 Study for the Bearded Doctor in Les Comédiens Italiens
red and black chalk on paper 25.6 x 20.6 cm

1712-13 Fête in a Park
oil on canvas 47.2 x 56.9 cm
© Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid

1712-13 Fête in a Park
detail

1712-13 Fête in a Park
detail

1712-13 Two studies of a dancer, raising her skirt in her two hands
red chalk on cream laid paper 17.6 x 13.3 cm Art
Institute of Chicago, IL

1712-14 The Dreamer
oil on panel 23.2 x 17 cm
Art Institute of Chicago, IL

c1712 Actors of the Comédie-Française
oil on canvas 20 x 25 cm
The State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia

1712c Pierrot content
oil on canvas 35 x 31 cm
Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid

c1712 The robber of the sparrow's nest
oil on canvas 23.1 x 18.7 cm
National Galleries Scotland, Edinburgh

c1712 The wedding procession
red chalk over red chalk counter-proof on laid paper
 22.2 x 17.1 cm
National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC

1713-14 Study of three male figures
red chalk on cream paper 19.7 x 15.5 cm
Art Gallery of New South Wales Sydney, Australia

c1713-14 Hunting party, hunter with four dogs in a landscape
red chalk on paper 40.3 x 54.1 cm
Städel Museum, Frankfurt, Germany

1713-17 Evening landscape with spinner
oil on canvas 55 x 66 cm
Museum Boijmans Van Beunigen, Rotterdam

1713-17 Evening landscape with spinner
detail

c1713-17 Reclining nude
oil on panel 14 x 17.1 cm
© The Norton Simon Foundation, Pasadena, CA

c1713 Three views of a military drummer
red chalk on cream antique laid paper 15.5 x 19.6 cm
Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, MA

c1714-18 Standing woman holding a spindle, and head of a woman in profile to right
two shades of red chalk 16.4 x 12.2 cm
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

c1714 Landscape with a country house
red chalk 8.4 x 14.3 cm
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

1715 Man with a showcase
black and red chalk on paper 30.1 x 20.7 cm
Boijmans Van Beunigen, Rotterdam

1715-16 Diana at her bath
oil on canvas 80 x 101 cm
Musée du Louvre, Paris

1715-16 Jupiter and Antiope
oil on canvas 73 x 107 cm
Musée du Louvre, Paris

1715-16 Recruit going to join the regiment
etching on paper 32 x 48.2 cm
Los Angeles County Museum of Art, CA

1715-16 Studies of three women
red, black, and white chalk 26.8 x 32.7 cm 
 J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles

1715-16 Study of two young Cobblers
red and black chalk on paper 22.2 x 21.7 cm
Boijmans Van Beunigen, Rotterdam

1715-16 The Clothes are Italian
etching and engraving on laid paper 30.5 x 21.3 cm (image)
Courtauld Institute of Art, London
Photo © The Courtauld

1715-16 The clothes are Italian
etching on laid paper 27.5 x 20 cm (image)
The Cleveland Museum of Art, Ohio

1715-16 The March of Silenus
red, black, and white chalks on brown laid paper 15.6 x 21.1 cm
National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC

1715-16c Satyr lifting drapery
black chalk, red chalk and highlights with white chalk, stump and graphite, on beige paper (size not given)
 Musée du Louvre, Paris

1715-16c Sheet of studies after Old Masters
red chalk on laid paper 17.7 x 29 cm
Courtauld Institute of Art, London
Photo © The Courtauld

c1715 Carmelite friar, standing
black and red chalk on laid paper 33.6 x 23.1 cm
Courtauld Institute of Art, London
Photo © The Courtauld

c1715 Recruits going to join the Regiment
etching om paper 20.9 x 33.3 cm (image) 
Philadelphia Museum of Art, PA

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