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:Watteau invented an entirely new type of subject for painting, the fête galante, a small picture of elegant figures engaged in animated outdoor entertainment. These subjects, so evocative in mood and in the psychological interaction between their characters, informed a current of intimacy and charm in the early 1700s, and were imitated by a number of French artists.
La Conversation represents such a social gathering with its bittersweet mood and gentle flirtation. Internationally celebrated, Watteau also painted portraits and some religious pictures. One of the greatest masters of drawing, he composed his paintings by selecting figures from sketches made from life.
La Conversation represents such a social gathering with its bittersweet mood and gentle flirtation. Internationally celebrated, Watteau also painted portraits and some religious pictures. One of the greatest masters of drawing, he composed his paintings by selecting figures from sketches made from life.
On view
In Collection(s)