Antoine Watteau(1684 — 1721)
Antoine Watteau
Royaume de France
6 min read
Antoine Watteau was a French painter and draughtsman of the early 18th century. The inventor of the genre of the “fêtes galantes” (courtship parties), he is one of the major figures of Rococo art, famous for his refined and melancholy scenes.
Frequently asked questions
Key Facts
- Born in 1684 in Valenciennes, a town recently annexed to the Kingdom of France.
- Admitted to the Royal Academy of Painting in 1717 with “The Pilgrimage to the Island of Cythera,” the work that established the genre of the fêtes galantes.
- Painter of “Pierrot” (formerly “Gilles”), around 1718–1719, one of his most famous works.
- Painted “The Shop Sign of Gersaint” around 1720, a late masterpiece created for an art dealer.
- Died prematurely of tuberculosis in 1721, at the age of 36.
Works & Achievements
His reception piece for the Academy, a masterpiece of the *fêtes galantes* depicting couples on the mythical island of love. Held at the Louvre.
A full-length portrait of an actor in the white costume of the *commedia dell'arte*, of a moving melancholy. Held at the Louvre.
His last great work, painted for the art shop of his friend the dealer. It shows the interior of a picture gallery in Paris.
A *fête galante* in which elegant figures dance and converse beneath an imaginary architecture, illustrating the art of living during the Régence.
A second, more sumptuous version of the Cythera theme, made for the collector Jean de Jullienne. Held in Berlin.
After his death, his friend Jullienne had his entire body of work engraved, spreading his style throughout Europe.
Anecdotes
Antoine Watteau was born in Valenciennes in 1684, a town that had become part of France only six years earlier, in 1678. The son of a roofer, he grew up in modest surroundings and left for Paris around 1702, almost penniless, to learn to paint.
To gain admission to the Royal Academy of Painting in 1717, Watteau submitted the painting *The Pilgrimage to Cythera*. The Academy, at a loss, created an entirely new category for him: that of “painter of fêtes galantes,” because his art fit into none of the official categories.
Watteau had an anxious and restless temperament: he often abandoned his paintings, gave some away to friends, and was forever changing lodgings. His biographer and friend, the art dealer Gersaint, described him as having a worried and solitary disposition.
Suffering from tuberculosis, Watteau traveled to London in 1719–1720 to consult a famous physician, but the damp climate worsened his illness. He died in 1721 at just 36 years old, in Nogent-sur-Marne.
Shortly before his death, Watteau painted a shop sign for the boutique of his friend, the dealer Gersaint, in just eight days. This *Shop Sign of Gersaint*, intended to hang outdoors, is today regarded as one of his masterpieces.
Primary Sources
He was of medium height and weak constitution; he had a lively and penetrating mind, lofty feelings... He was restless, dissatisfied with himself, hard to pin down.
Watteau could not bear constraint; he often left his works before finishing them, out of distaste or impatience.
Admitted as an academician on the basis of the painting depicting The Pilgrimage to the Isle of Cythera, a painter in the particular talent of the *fêtes galantes*.
Key Places
Town in northern France where Watteau was born in 1684, shortly after it became part of the kingdom.
Capital where Watteau trained, worked, and built his entire career from 1702 onward.
Institution that admitted him in 1717, inventing the genre of the “fêtes galantes” especially for him.
City where Watteau stayed in 1719–1720 to consult a doctor, but where the climate worsened his tuberculosis.
Town near Paris where Watteau died in 1721, at the age of 36.
