Jean-Antoine Watteau (1684-1721), Follower of - Fête Galante - NO RESERVE

Fête galante with concert, in the garden.
Oil on canvas. French school of the eighteenth century, follower of Jean-Antoine Watteau (1684-1721).

The luminous composition here proposed represents an enchanting example of Rocaille painting, fully ascribable to the fortunate season of the fête galante, an erudite and fashionable genre, after Watteau's admission to the Académie in 1717.
The scene unfolds along two converging diagonals: on the left the delightful pastoral episode of the child astride a kid—a comic and Arcadian motif; on the right the group of two gentlemen, caught in a moment of colloquial ease. In the center, the bright focal point of invention, stands the figure of the girl with the cittern—an ancient zither plucked with a crystalline timbre—in a yellow dress, gracefully accompanying the elegant singer, who, with music stand unfolded and hand raised, intones his part with engaged expression. The background, marked by a ruined wall topped by an urn and an ancient arch, guides the viewer's gaze toward a spatial depth, as if a theatrical wing, in accord with the scenic lesson of Boucher and Lancret.
The brushstroke appears bodily and cursive, both in the secondary draperies and in the finished flesh tones with rosy glazes. The earthy palette is enlivened by bright touches of vermilion red and saffron yellow. The light, diffuse and velvety, envelops the figures in a twilight and sonic atmosphere, as if one could hear the clinking of goblets, the silky pizzicato of the cittern, and the crackling rustle of foliage under the great oak. The antique craquelure adds great charm to the image, evidence of the canvas's temporal authenticity.

The painting has been restored and re-stretched in the last century.

It comes from a private Lombard collection.

As a complement to the work, a more recent frame with an antique patina is included.

Dimensions: 92 cm x 82 cm.