Antoine Watteau's career, spanning the end of Louis XIV's reign and the Regency, was celebrated primarily for his depictions of courtly festivities.
Yet these scenes depicting richly dressed contemporaries set in bucolic landscapes predate this period by a wide margin. A fresh examination of Watteau’s life and career reveals him to be a renovator rather than an inventor of the genre. By setting aside the romantic interpretations perpetuated by critics since the 18th century and adopting a perspective that is as objective as possible—based on archival research and material analyses of the works—it is possible to gain a new understanding of Watteau. Thus, by updating our understanding of earlier biographies and by studying the painter’s social networks and his relationship to the phenomenon of fashion in a comprehensive manner (understood in the sense of clothing trends and manifestations of changing tastes), a well-honed commercial strategy emerges. The effectiveness of this strategy explains Watteau’s enduring legacy after his death. His numerous followers, who adopted his subjects and his working methods, ensured the longevity of the images and the strategy created by this fashionable painter, as well as his success to this day.
By Guillaume Faroult, Chief Curator in charge of 18th-century French paintings and British and American paintings, Musée du Louvre.
And Axel Moulinier, Ph.D. in art history, affiliated researcher at the Institut de recherches historiques du Septentrion (IRHIS-UMR 8529)
Session Details
- January 11, 2027, from 11:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.: Watteau: His Life, His Work, Early Sources, and New Discoveries.
- January 18, 2027, from 11:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.: Watteau’s Friends: Patron Circles, Artistic Networks.
- January 25, 2027, from 11:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.: The Language of Fabric: Clothing in the Work of Antoine Watteau.
- February 1, 2027, from 11:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.: Between Pierrot and Crispin: Watteau and the Theater of His Time.
- February 8, 2027, from 11:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.: Watteau After Watteau: Watteau’s Followers.
Antoine Watteau's career, spanning the end of Louis XIV's reign and the Regency, was celebrated primarily for his depictions of courtly festivities.
Yet these scenes depicting richly dressed contemporaries set in bucolic landscapes predate this period by a wide margin. A fresh examination of Watteau’s life and career reveals him to be a renovator rather than an inventor of the genre. By setting aside the romantic interpretations perpetuated by critics since the 18th century and adopting a perspective that is as objective as possible—based on archival research and material analyses of the works—it is possible to gain a new understanding of Watteau. Thus, by updating our understanding of earlier biographies and by studying the painter’s social networks and his relationship to the phenomenon of fashion in a comprehensive manner (understood in the sense of clothing trends and manifestations of changing tastes), a well-honed commercial strategy emerges. The effectiveness of this strategy explains Watteau’s enduring legacy after his death. His numerous followers, who adopted his subjects and his working methods, ensured the longevity of the images and the strategy created by this fashionable painter, as well as his success to this day.
By Guillaume Faroult, Chief Curator in charge of 18th-century French paintings and British and American paintings, Musée du Louvre.
And Axel Moulinier, Ph.D. in art history, affiliated researcher at the Institut de recherches historiques du Septentrion (IRHIS-UMR 8529)
Session Details
- January 11, 2027, from 11:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.: Watteau: His Life, His Work, Early Sources, and New Discoveries.
- January 18, 2027, from 11:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.: Watteau’s Friends: Patron Circles, Artistic Networks.
- January 25, 2027, from 11:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.: The Language of Fabric: Clothing in the Work of Antoine Watteau.
- February 1, 2027, from 11:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.: Between Pierrot and Crispin: Watteau and the Theater of His Time.
- February 8, 2027, from 11:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.: Watteau After Watteau: Watteau’s Followers.
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