Jean-Antoine Watteau
Self Portrait
Jean-Antoine Watteau was a French Rococo painter born on October 10, 1684, in a Flemish town of Valenciennes. His father was a roof tiler and at a young age, he would be sensitive to mood changes but was an avid reader and music lover. His parents would place him in a local workshop to learn painting but at the age of 18, Watteau moved to Paris to learn more but was poor and only did sketches. A year later, he would meet his new mentor, Claude Gillot. Watteau was later introduced to Claude Audran III, a decorative and interior designer. With the influence of these two artists, Watteau began to develop a mature art style, incorporate theatrical subjects, and use interior designs in his paintings. In 1709, he was accepted into the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpting and participated in the Prix de Rome competition but failed to gain a scholarship to Rome and thus, went back to Valenciennes to do paintings. He tried again in 1712 and managed to succeed and became a full member of the academy. His fame would grow as demand for his paintings rise but would work in seclusion. Watteau would spend his last days in France where he would die at the age of 37. His famous works include Les Plaisirs du bal, L’Enseigne de Gersaint, The Italian Comedians(1721), and The Dance. Watteau’s works were generally melancholy compared to other Rococo artists as they have a more sober and futile tone to them, but still having feathery brushstrokes and pastel colours. His paintings generally included aristocrats but also included ballets and operas which conveyed the theme of moderns vs ancients as new dances were seen as a rejection of classicism. In Watteau’s chalk sketches, he manages to natural body movements while using different colours to create a vibrant effect. His inspirations were Ruben and Correggio. I find Watteau’s paintings unique because of how he handles colours. His paintings look gloomy with dull tones yet he also manages it to make them look colourful by using pastel hues. The way he paints people may not be completely realistic, still have a lot of emotion in them to the point you can understand them. And even his sketches still manage to look amazing because of the amount of detail he has added and how lifelike they look. I think his paintings are amazing because of the unique colours and details but his sketches also manage to look on par with the paintings as well.
Les Plaisirs du bal
L’Enseigne de Gersaint
The Italian Comedians(1721)
The Dance
Homme de profil coiffé d’un bonnet
Sources:
http://www.artnet.com/artists/jean-antoine-watteau/
https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/watt/hd_watt.htm
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Antoine-Watteau
http://www.jean-antoine-watteau.org/biography.html
Images:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Antoine_Watteau
http://www.artnet.com/artists/jean-antoine-watteau/homme-de-profil-coiff%C3%A9-dun-bonnet-PeY7mRSTY-BoJb7rEThV1A2
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