Jean-Antoine Watteau

Research Status: Basic Last Updated: 2025-01-23 Diary Coverage: Up to 1880-10-24

Jean-Antoine Watteau (1684-1721) was a French Rococo painter famous for his delicate, elegant scenes of aristocratic leisure and theatrical characters. He is particularly known for inventing the genre of "fêtes galantes" - idyllic scenes of well-dressed figures in parkland settings.

Marie, visiting the Louvre in October 1880, becomes enchanted with 18th century paintings, declaring she would love to abandon herself to "the softest idleness buried in the gauzes of Watteau and Greuze and the brocades of Rigaud." She finds the period exquisite - a charming era that combined all the prestige of ancient times with already-modern English-style amenities.

This reveals Marie's aesthetic sensibilities: despite her ambitions for serious artistic achievement, she is drawn to the refined, graceful, feminine aesthetic of the 18th century French masters.

Notable works:

• The Embarkation for Cythera (1717)
• Pierrot (Gilles) (c. 1718-1719)
• The Shopkeeper (L'Enseigne de Gersaint) (1720-1721)

Style characteristics:

• Delicate brushwork and soft colors
• Elegant figures in parkland or theatrical settings
• Dreamlike, melancholic atmosphere
• Emphasis on refined pleasure and beauty