Fête champêtre (Pastoral Gathering)
1718–21
Medium
Oil on panel
Dimensions
48.6 × 64.5 cm (19 1/16 × 25 3/8 in.); Framed: 74 × 89.9 × 9.6 cm (29 1/8 × 35 3/8 × 3 3/4 in.)
Classification
oil on panel
Department
Painting and Sculpture of Europe
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
107938
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
Jean-Antoine Watteau developed the genre of painting known as fête champêtre, featuring courting figures relaxing in a landscape. The elegant figures in Pastoral Gathering are grouped to suggest the three phases of love: childhood innocence (left), romantic enchantment and courtship (center), and amorous attainment (right). The transitory nature of romance is underscored by the changing autumn leaves and waning afternoon light. This painting may have been begun by Watteau toward the end of his c...