The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 19, 2024

Antoine Watteau

Antoine Watteau

c. 1727
(French, 1703–1770)
(French, 1684–1721)
France, 18th century
etching and engraving
Sheet: 37.3 x 26.4 cm (14 11/16 x 10 3/8 in.); Platemark: 35.1 x 24.2 cm (13 13/16 x 9 1/2 in.)
Gift of P. & D. Colnaghi Co. 1925.1217
Catalogue raisonné: Inventaire du Fonds Français 65
Location: not on view

Description

This etching served as the frontispiece for Jean de Jullienne’s The Works of Antoine Watteau (L’Oeuvre d’Antoine Watteau). Early in his career, Boucher reproduced more than 100 etchings of Watteau’s works for the publication, learning to emulate his elegant draftsmanship. This had a lasting effect on the young artist, as is evident in a comparison of Boucher’s Andromeda with Watteau’s The Clothes Are Italian, both on view nearby. The tribute to Watteau inscribed below the portrait translates: Watteau, adorned by Nature with happy talents,Was very grateful for the gifts she gave him:Never has another hand painted her more beautifully,Nor been known to display her with features so gallant.
  • Zorach, Rebecca, and Elizabeth Rodini. Paper Museums: The Reproductive Print in Europe, 1500-1800. Chicago, Ill: David and Alfred Smart Museum of Art, University of Chicago, 2005. cat. 12A
    Beeny, Emily A., Davide Gasparotto, Richard Rand, and Antoine Watteau. Watteau at Work: La Surprise. Los Angeles : J. Paul Getty Museum, 2021. Mentioned and reproduced: pp. 1-2, fig. 1.
  • Elegance and Intrigue: French Society in 18th-century Prints and Drawings. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (July 16-November 6, 2016).
    Paper Museums: The Reproductive Print in Europe, 1500-1800. The David and Alfred Smart Museum of Art, Chicago, IL (organizer) (February 3-May 15, 2005); Grey Art Gallery, New York, NY (September 13-December 3, 2005).
    Inventive Impressions: 18th- and 19-Century French Prints. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (August 26-October 28, 2001).
    French Prints and Drawings in the Age of the Bourbons, 1589-1792. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 2-May 16, 1982).
  • {{cite web|title=Antoine Watteau|url=false|author=François Boucher, Jean Antoine Watteau|year=c. 1727|access-date=19 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1925.1217