Monday 27 May 2024

Jean-Antoine Watteau - part 4

Portrait of Watteau by François Boucher

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 4 of a 5-part series on the works of Jean-Antoine Watteau:


c1717 Study for The Festival of Love
red chalk and graphite on buff laid paper 19.6 x 26.5 cm
Art Institute of Chicago, IL

c1717 The Festival of Love
oil on canvas 61 x 75 cm
Gemäldegalerie, Dresden

c1717 The Festival of Love
detail

c1717 The love song
oil on canvas 51.3 x 59.4 cm
The National Gallery, London

1718 The Capricious Girl
oil on canvas 42 x 34 cm
The State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia

1718 Two studies of a Flutist and a study of the head of a boy
red, black, and white chalk, on buff-coloured paper 21.4 x 33.5 cm 
 J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles

1718-19 Fêtes Vénitiennes
oil on canvas  56.3 x 46.2 cm
National Galleries, Scotland

1718-19 Fêtes Vénitiennes
detail

1718-19 Fêtes Vénitiennes
detail

1718-19 La Surprise
oil on panel 36.4 x 28.2 cm
Getty Center, Museum South Pavilion, Los Angeles

1718-19 Pierrot
chalk on paper?
study for the painting below:


1718-19 Pierrot, formerly known as Gilles
 oil on canvas 184.5 x 149.5 cm
Musée du Louvre, Paris

1718-19 Three studies of a woman's head and a study of hands
red chalk and graphite with black chalk and pink wash on laid paper 17.9 15.9 cm
National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC

1718-19 View of a house, a cottage, and two figures
red chalk on laid paper 17.9 x 15.9 cm
National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC

c1718-19 Pilgrimage to Cythera
oil on canvas 1200 x 190 cm 
Charlottenburg Palace, Berlin

c1718-19 Pilgrimage to Cythera
detail

c1718-19 Pilgrimage to Cythera
detail

c1718-19 Pleasures of love
oil on canvas 60 x 75 cm
Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden

c1718-19 Pleasures of love
detail

c1718-19 Pleasures of love
detail


c1718-19 The Feast of Love
oil on canvas 61 x 75 cm
Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister (Dresden)

c1718-19 The Feast of Love
detail

c1718-19 The Feast of Love
detail

c1718-20 Mezzetin
(a stock comic character of the Italian commedia dell’arte)
oil on canvas 55.2 x 43.2 cm
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

1718-21 Pastoral Gathering
oil on panel 48.6 x 64.5 cm
Art Institute of Chicago, IL

1718-21 Pastoral Gathering
detail

1718-21 Pastoral Gathering
detail

c1718 A capricious woman
oil on canvas 42 x 34 cm
The State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia

c1718 Italian comedians taking their bows
red chalk and graphite on cream laid paper 17.8 x 18.5 cm
National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC

c1718 Fountain nymph
oil on canvas 74.3 x 78.4 cm
Private Collection

c1718 The Music Party
oil on canvas 67 x 93 cm
Wallace Collection, London

c1718 The Music Party
detail

c1718 The Music Party
detail

1719-20 Actor standing with head turned to the right
red chalk on paper 17.1 x 13.1 cm
Minneapolis Institute of Art

1719-20 Italian comedians
red, black, and white chalks, with stumping, on cream laid paper 26.1 x 40.3 cm
Art Institute of Chicago, IL

c1719 The perfect accord
oil on chestnut panel 33 x 27.9 cm
Los Angeles County Museum of Art, CA

c1719 Woman in black
ed and black chalk on paper 19.7 x 17.9 cm
The Clark Art Institute, Williamstown, MA

1720 The Italian Comedians
oil on canvas 63.8 x 76.2 cm
National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC

   1720 The Italian Comedians
detail

 1720 The Italian Comedians
detail

1733 Comediens Italiens
etching and engraving 33.3 40.4 cm (plate) 
Philadelphia Museum of Art, PA

1720 The Sign of Gersaint (diptych)
oil on canvas 163 x 306 cm
Charlottenburg Palace, Berlin

1720 The Sign of Gersaint 
detail

1720 The Sign of Gersaint 
detail

1720 Two studies of a boy
chalk on paper  17.5 x 17.6 cm
Museum Boijmans Van Beunigen, Rotterdam

c1720-21 Seated woman looking down
red and black chalk with stumping on laid paper 21 x 14.7 cm
National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC

c1720-21 Three portraits of musicians
graphite with traces of blue pastel, on yellowed beige paper
24.1 x 27.7 cm
Musée du Louvre, Paris

c1720-40 Study for an arched decorative panel, with three hunting dogs and dead game
 (Attributed to Watteau)
red chalk on paper 15.8 x 21.7 cm
Museum Boijmans Van Beunigen, Rotterdam

c1720 The french comedians
oil on canvas 57.2 x 73 cm
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

c1720 The french comedians
detail

c1720 The french comedians
detail

Before 1721 - Paravent de Six Feuilles (Six etchings designed for a folding screen):

Paravent de Six Feuilles
etching on paper

Harlequin standing
etching
© The Trustees of the British Museum 

Shepherd seated, leaning on a staff, near a shepherdess
etching on paper 39.4 x 19.7 cm 
Philadelphia Museum of Art, PA

The bewitcher
etching on paper 45.1 x 22.9 cm
Philadelphia Museum of Art, PA

Lady with a guitar
etching on paper

Two figures with musical instruments
etching on paper

1727 Study for "The Romancer"
red and black chalk on yellow-beige laid paper 35 x 27.5 cm
The Cleveland Museum of Art, Ohio

1727 The Romancer
oil on panel. 34.3 x 27.3 cm
private collection

c1729 Les Jardins de Bachus (The Garden of Bachus)
etching on paper 28.9 x 39.7 cm 
Philadelphia Museum of Art, PA

1731 Comediens François, Galli Comædi
etching and engraving 32.8 x 42.2 cm (plate)
Philadelphia Museum of Art, PA

1734 L'Ile Enchantée, Insula Perjucunda
 etching and engraving 34.4 x 47.5 cm (image) 
Philadelphia Museum of Art, PA

c1744 Landscape with a cottage and well
red chalk, framing lines in pen and brown ink 8.4 x 14.3 cm
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

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