Jean Antoine Watteau (French, 1684–1721)
Assisted by Jean-Baptiste Pater (French, 1695-1736)
Fête champêtre (Pastoral Gathering)
INV-1079
Jean Antoine Watteau (French, 1684–1721)
Assisted by Jean-Baptiste Pater (French, 1695-1736)1718–21
Fête champêtre (Pastoral Gathering)
Jean Antoine Watteau (French, 1684–1721) Assisted by Jean-Baptiste Pater (French, 1695-1736) →18th Centuryoil on panelpaint
Date
1718–21
Medium
Oil on panel
Dimensions
48.6 × 64.5 cm (19 1/16 × 25 3/8 in.); Framed: 74 × 89.9 × 9.6 cm (29 1/8 × 35 3/8 × 3 3/4 in.)
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Location
Chicago, IL
Credit
Max and Leola Epstein Collection
Jean-Antoine Watteau developed the genre of painting known as fête champêtre, featuring courting figures relaxing in a landscape. The elegant figures in Pastoral Gathering are grouped to suggest the three phases of love: childhood innocence (left), romantic enchantment and courtship (center), and amorous attainment (right). The transitory nature of romance is underscored by the changing autumn leaves and waning afternoon light. This painting may have been begun by Watteau toward the end of his career and finished by Jean-Baptiste Pater, who studied under Watteau and completed some of his unfinished projects.
Also notable
Works in the same vein
