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Jean-Antoine Watteau

Born – Valenciennes, France 1684

Died – Paris, France 1721

 

The work of Antoine Watteau provides a singularly distinctive precedent to the visual and decorative art known as Rococo. He is credited with creating a Parisian style and is classed alongside Chardin as a key figure among pre-Revolutionary French artists of the period. Watteau settled in Paris in 1702, and until 1708 studied under decorative painter Claude Gillot. Watteau adopted Gillot’s predilection for painting scenes for the commedia dell’arte. Theatrical costume and poetic characters recur in Watteau’s paintings, leading to his title “peintre de fêtes galantes”. He gained access to Rubens, Veronese and the Venetians had notable influence on his style, particularly in his use of colour. This incorporated a systematic method of mixing pigment optically on the canvas, which was to be developed later by Seurat into Divisionism. The Music Party is a typical example of Watteau’s oeuvre. He renders an imaginative, ideal scene of life exquisitely, tinged with sadness. It is believable rather than superficial, full of the gravity and grace of serious skill, rather than the frivolous spirit of true Rococo which was to follow.

 

Masterpieces:

• The Embarkation for Cythera
• Enseigne De Gersaint

Text: The A-Z of Art, Nicola Hodge and Libby Anson.

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