Some of his best known subjects were drawn from the world of Italian comedy and ballet. Please consider making a donation or joining our Friends.Type in your search keywords, then submit or select one of the suggestions.This is a very fine example of the 'fêtes galantes' perfected by Watteau. Rendered in fine brushstrokes and soft, sparkling tones, this celebrated work evidently had personal meaning for the artist. His life was short and plagued by illness yet his work would have a profound impact on the development of French art, exemplifying the delicacy and grace of the style known as Rococo. 100 Masterpieces National Galleries of Scotland Collection (paperback) £24.95. Watteau is credited with inventing the genre of fêtes galantes, scenes of bucolic and idyllic charm, suffused with a theatrical air. The painting may contain a private meaning enjoyed by the two artists. The actors from the commedia had been expelled from France for several years, but the costumes, masks and mummery were to loom large in his boyish imagination. It has been suggested that the depiction of the two friends eyeing the same dancer may have had some private significance for the artist. For general enquiries regarding your visit or gallery services: Fetes Venitiennes by Jean-Antoine Watteau art print. It is not known whether Watteau himself used this title, since it first appears on an engraving after the picture which was not published until 1732 – after the artist’s death. Sign up for news about exhibitions, events, and more. It is indeed tempting to read the picture as a wistful depiction of some elaborate love triangle, but if we try to limit the work to any specific narrative then we risk diminishing its hold on our imagination. Her male dancing partner is Nicolas Vleughels, a Flemish painter, who was Watteau's friend and landlord. Watteau was born in October 1684 in the town of Valenciennes which had recently passed from the Spanish Netherlands to France. Fêtes Vénitiennes is an example of a genre that Watteau himself invented featuring elegant people in romantic landscape settings, often engaged in amorous pursuits. Bequest of Lady Murray of Henderland 1861 Masterpieces from the National Galleries of Scotland postcard book. An especially sensual nude sculpture overlooks a gathering of elegant people in a parkland setting at dusk. Jean-Antoine Watteau (French, 1684–1721) ... Watteau gave the features of his close friend the Franco-Flemish painter Nicolas Vleughels to the strutting male dancer and his own to the lovelorn musette player — perhaps an allusion to a competition between the two men for the affection of the same woman, or a risqué joke.
You will be able to seamlessly ‘Favourite’ images and download large images for personal use. Registered Address: National Galleries of Scotland, 73 Belford Road, Edinburgh, EH4 3DS National Galleries of Scotland is a charity registered in Scotland (No. SC003728) £7.99. Watteau mingles reality and fantasy in a work whose meaning resides in its playful yet elusive mood.Watteau, celebrated for his colourful and delicately sophisticated work, introduced a new type of subject into eighteenth century French painting: the fêtes galantes. A new term, fête galante, was coined by the French Academy to describe this type of painting.Among the various figures in this picture there are three that command our particular attention; at the left, a man in oriental costume who strikes a self-confident pose; his dancing partner, a beautiful young woman who dominates the centre of the picture; and at the right, a seated figure who looks on as he provides the accompaniment with a musette, a type of small bagpipe. They appear joyful but are often tinged with melancholy.
WATTEAU, Jean-Antoine (b. £10.99 £6.59. (framed: 68.20 x 59.00 x 8.00 cm) In any event, it is unlikely that this composition derives from any specific source and it seems that the artist’s intent was to evoke a dreamlike atmosphere with the charming setting, the fanciful costumes and the complex play of meaningful gestures and glances among the company.The picture is in excellent condition, allowing us to appreciate Watteau’s precise yet very fluid handling of paint and the silken delicacy of his colour. In these uncertain times we need your support more than ever.
Watteau is credited with inventing the genre of fêtes galantes, scenes of bucolic and idyllic charm, suffused with a theatrical air. Watteau… Fêtes Venitiennes. Watteau was deeply influenced by figures from commedia dell’arte while learning his craft in the workshop of Claude Gillot (1673-1722). 1684, Valenciennes, d. 1721, Nogent-sur-Marne) Fêtes Vénitiennes 1718-19 Oil on canvas, 56 x 46 cm National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh: Antoine Watteau brought the fête galante to its highest point when he created a mysterious, melancholy, dreamlike world populated by well-dressed people who flirt and play gracefully in parklike surroundings. Go to .