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La Conversation

La Conversation

Artist: Jean-Antoine Watteau (French, 1684-1721)
Date: 1712-1713
Dimensions:
Painting: H: 19 3/4 in. (50.2 cm); W: 24 in. (61 cm);
Frame: H. 29 1/2 in. (74.9 cm); W: 33 3/4 in. (85.7 cm); D: 3 1/4 in. (8.3 cm)
Medium: Oil on canvas
Classification: Paintings
Credit Line: Purchased with funds from the Libbey Endowment, Gift of Edward Drummond Libbey
Object number: 1971.152
Label Text:Antoine Watteau invented an entirely new type of subject for paintings, the fête galante—a small picture of elegant, aristocratic figures engaged in animated outdoor entertainment. These subjects, evocative in mood and in the psychological interaction between their characters, contributed to a new taste for intimacy and charm in the art of the early 1700s. Many French artists imitated Watteau’s style and subject matter.

La Conversation represents a social gathering in a park, with an intriguing bittersweet mood and gentle flirtation among the young, well-dressed participants. Internationally celebrated and one of the greatest masters of drawing, Watteau composed his paintings by selecting figures from sketches made from life.

On view
In Collection(s)