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Jean Antoine Watteau

Fête champêtre (Pastoral Gathering)

1718/21
Oil on panel
48.6 × 64.5 cm (19.1 × 25.4 in)

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● On view now — Gallery 216

Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago · verified July 2026

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FROM THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO’S CATALOG

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 career and finished by Jean-Baptiste Pater, who studied under Watteau and completed some of his unfinished projects.

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