A seated woman holding a closed fan before a drawn curtain, a tree and sky beyond
ca. 1710–41
Medium
Etching with engraving
Dimensions
sheet: 7 3/4 x 5 1/16 in. (19.7 x 12.8 cm) plate: 4 15/16 x 3 1/8 in. (12.5 x 8 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Bequest of Phyllis Massar, 2011
Accession Number
2012.136.244
Tags
Art Historical Context
In the elegant world of early 18th-century Frenchoco art, *A Seated Woman Holding a Closed Before a Drawn Curtain a Tree and Sky Beyond* captures the refined grace associated with Antoine Watteau, master of dreamy, theatrical scenes known as *fêtes galantes*. a reproductive print after a Watteau drawing or painting, it was executed by engraver Henri Simon Thomassin around 171041. The composition features a poised woman seated indoors, her closed fan a symbol of coquetry and social poise, framed by a parted curtain revealing a glimpse of nature—a tree and sky—that evokes the era's fascination w...
About the Artist
Antoine Watteau|Henri Simon Thomassin · 1684–1721
Jean-Antoine Watteau, born in 1684 in Valenciennes to a modest family—his father a roofer named Jean-Philippe Watteau—was the second of four sons who displayed an early passion for art. After initial apprenticeship under local painter Jacques-Albert Gérin, he moved to Paris around 1702, working in workshops copying Flemish and Dutch genre scenes. By 1705, he entered the studio of Claude Gillot, ab...