Watteau, Antoine, << wah TOH, an TWAHN >> (1684-1721), a French painter, developed a style and subject matter that began the Rococo movement. Watteau’s specialty was the small, intimate painting called the fete galante (elegant party) or fete champetre (country party). In these works, elegant young people wear shimmering satins and silks. They play music, dance, talk, and fall in love in rich, leafy garden settings. Watteau also painted portraits of characters from the French theater.
Watteau’s popularity was part of a reaction against the large, cold academic paintings of serious subjects that dominated French art about 1700. When Watteau applied for admission to the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture, he was given the unprecedented honor of choosing his own subject matter for his admission picture. Watteau painted The Island of Cythera (1717). The painting shows lovers who have traveled to Cythera, the island of Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love. They prepare to board boats to return to the everyday world. The scene reflects a mood of melancholy as the lovers leave their paradise with regretful backward glances.
Jean Antoine Watteau was born on Oct. 10, 1684, in Valenciennes. He moved to Paris in 1702. As a youth, he worked for a patron, the collector Pierre Crozat. Later, Watteau became one of the first major painters to operate outside the patronage system and live by selling his works through a dealer. He died on July 18, 1721.
