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Jean-Antoine Watteau
(1684-1721)
Watteau, Antoine
(1684-1721). A French rococo artist whose charming and
graceful paintings show his interest in theater and ballet, Antoine Watteau
is probably best known for his fetes galantes. These romantic and idealized
scenes depict elaborately costumed ladies and gentlemen at play in fanciful
outdoor settings.
Jean-Antoine Watteau was born on Oct. 10, 1684, in Valenciennes, France.
In 1702 he traveled to Paris, where he supported himself by turning out
religious pictures and copying the works of popular Dutch artists. In 1704 he
began studying with Claude Gillot. Gillot, who designed and executed scenery
for the stage, passed on to Watteau his love of the Italian theater and the
characters from the commedia dell'arte.
In 1708 Watteau began working with Claude Audran, who had the care of the
treasures at the Luxembourg Palace. This collection included a group of
scenes from the life of Marie de Medici painted in the early 1600s by the
Flemish master
Peter Paul Rubens.
Rubens's influence can also be seen in
Watteau's work. In 1709-10 Watteau returned to Valenciennes, where he
executed a series of military scenes. In the years 1710-12 he painted the
first of three versions of the myth of Cythera, the island of love for which
pilgrims embark but never arrive. The paintings represented impossible
dreams, the revenge of madness on reason and of freedom on moral rules.
Watteau returned to Paris and in 1715 was befriended by Pierre Crozat, a
rich financier and art collector who owned a splendid collection of Flemish
and Italian paintings and who admired Watteau's paintings. Watteau lived for
a time in the residence of Crozat, but after a while he left to live in
seclusion. This began the period of his major paintings, including the fetes
galantes.
By 1719 Watteau was suffering from tuberculosis. That year he traveled to
London to see a noted physician, Richard Mead, for whom he painted
The Italian Comedians.
In 1720 he returned to Paris and stayed with his friend
E.F. Gersaint, an art dealer. For him he did
Enseigne de Gersaint,
a painting of the interior of Gersaint's shop intended for use as a
signboard. Watteau's health continued to fail, and he moved to
Nogent-sur-Marne just east of Paris, where he died on July 18, 1721.
The paintings of Watteau and his fellow rococo painters
Francois Boucher
and
Jean-Honore Fragonard
fell from favor in the late 1700s. His work was not
fully appreciated again until the mid-1800s.
Contributors:
Mark Harden and
Carol Gerten-Jackson.
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