Figures in Landscape

Discussion

FROM THE BARNES FOUNDATION’S CATALOG

Pater was the only student accepted by Jean-Antoine Watteau, the French Rococo master known for his aristocratic pleasure scenes, called fêtes galantes. This small, erotically charged panel, likely a collaboration by both artists, depicts a tryst set on the banks of a lagoon. The lush, otherworldly landscape is dominated by pinks and blues. As the woman extends her bare leg, she looks at her gallant companion; her raised hand seems to suggest that he has taken the flirtation a little too far. Voyeurism abounds in this picture: a figure peeps at the lovers from behind one tree, and a group of playful putti observes from another.

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