Artist

Jean-Antoine Watteau

Jean-Antoine Watteau prints bring the poetry and wistful charm of the Rococo into your home: elegant couples in silk dallying in parks, musicians serenading, and the actors of the Italian comedy. Watteau invented the fête galante, a new kind of painting of graceful outdoor gatherings,...Read more

Jean-Antoine Watteau prints bring the poetry and wistful charm of the Rococo into your home: elegant couples in silk dallying in parks, musicians serenading, and the actors of the Italian comedy. Watteau invented the fête galante, a new kind of painting of graceful outdoor gatherings, and in a short career of barely fifteen years transformed French art. Our collection of fine art prints includes his fêtes galantes, theatre figures and his exquisite red-chalk drawings.

About Jean-Antoine Watteau

Jean-Antoine Watteau was born in Valenciennes in October 1684, the son of a roofer. Showing an early interest in painting, he went to Paris, where around 1705 he became assistant to Claude Gillot, whose love of the commedia dell'arte became one of Watteau's lifelong passions. He then worked with the decorator Claude Audran III, curator of the Luxembourg Palace, where he studied Rubens's great series of paintings for Marie de' Medici.

He tried for the Prix de Rome in 1709 and 1712 without success, but the painter Charles de La Fosse persuaded him he had nothing to learn in Rome and helped him become an associate of the Academy. His reception piece, delivered five years later in 1717, was The Embarkation for Cythera, and the Academy created a new category, the fête galante, to describe it.

Suffering from tuberculosis, he visited London in 1719–1720 to consult a doctor, but the damp air did him no good. Back in Paris he stayed with his friend the dealer Edme-François Gersaint, for whom he painted the famous shop sign, and spent his last months at Nogent-sur-Marne, where he died on 18 July 1721, aged 36.

Style and Subjects

Watteau's fêtes galantes show elegant men and women in shimmering silks, relaxing, making music and courting in dreamy parkland. The mood is light but tinged with melancholy, as if the pleasure may not last.

He learned colour and movement from Rubens and Venetian painting, and his touch is delicate and feathery. His drawings, especially in red, black and white chalk, are among the finest ever made, and the actors of the Italian comedy, Pierrot, Mezzetin and Harlequin, appear again and again.

Famous Works

The Embarkation for Cythera (1717), Musée du Louvre, Paris. Couples preparing to leave the island of love, his reception piece for the Academy.
L'Indifférent (about 1717), Musée du Louvre, Paris. A young dancer poised in a graceful pose.
Mezzetin (about 1718–1720), Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. A comedian of the Italian theatre singing a love song.
Fêtes vénitiennes (1718–1719), Scottish National Gallery, Edinburgh. Dancers and musicians in a garden, with Watteau himself as a bagpiper.
Pierrot (Gilles) (about 1718–1719), Musée du Louvre, Paris. An actor in white satin staring out at us, his most enigmatic picture.
Les Charmes de la vie (about 1718), Wallace Collection, London. Musicians and companions on a terrace.
The Shop Sign of Gersaint (1720), Charlottenburg Palace, Berlin. His last masterpiece, the interior of his friend's art shop.

Decorating with Watteau Prints

Watteau's fêtes galantes suit elegant living rooms, bedrooms and music rooms, with soft colours, painted furniture and gilt frames. The Embarkation for Cythera or The Italian Serenade adds a romantic, gently melancholy mood.

His red-chalk drawings are perfect for a study, hallway or bedroom, especially grouped in simple frames with wide mounts, and his theatre figures suit a music or media room.

FAQ

What is a fête galante?

A fête galante is a painting of elegant people in fancy dress enjoying themselves outdoors in a park. The French Academy created the category for Watteau's Embarkation for Cythera in 1717.

What is Watteau's most famous painting?

The Embarkation for Cythera (1717), in the Louvre, is his most famous work. Pierrot (Gilles) and The Shop Sign of Gersaint are also celebrated.

What art movement was Watteau part of?

Watteau was a key founder of the Rococo, turning away from the formal Baroque toward a lighter, more natural and poetic style.

Who influenced Watteau?

Peter Paul Rubens, whose paintings he studied at the Luxembourg Palace, was a major influence, along with Venetian painting and his early master Claude Gillot.

Where can I see Watteau's paintings?

The Louvre has several of his masterpieces. Others are in the Wallace Collection in London, the Charlottenburg Palace in Berlin, the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Scottish National Gallery.