The Country Dance is an oil painting by French artist Jean-Antoine Watteau, located in the Indianapolis Museum of Art, which is in Indianapolis, Indiana. Probably one of Watteau's earliest painting, created roughly 1706-1710, it depicts a group of quite courtly peasants dancing among the trees.[1]
| The Country Dance | |
|---|---|
| French: La Danse Champetre | |
 | |
| Artist | Jean-Antoine Watteau |
| Year | c. 1706-1710 |
| Type | Oil painting on canvas |
| Dimensions | 50 cm × 60.01 cm (19.5 in × 23.625 in) |
| Location | Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indianapolis |
| Accession | 74.98 |
Description
editAmid the trees, a group of villagers play music while a couple dances. A toddler copies the lady's motions, entertaining the company. Rather than the usual contemporary association with debauchery, music here alludes to social harmony and order. The musicians glance coyly at the viewer, actors very aware of their spectators. This sort of interaction is one of Watteau's hallmarks.[1]
It is an image of visual extremes: the dark forest background brings the peasants' bright clothing into sharp contrast. The rustic setting and the dancers' formal attire channel both the fête galante and a formal court celebration transplanted to a charming bit of countryside.[2]
Historical information
editThis is Watteau's earliest known painting, but already he had developed his own style. Painted shortly after he moved from Valenciennes to Paris, Watteau took the merry rustic scenes favored by his Flemish antecedents like Pieter Bruegel and Peter Paul Rubens, but gave them unprecedented grace, nobility, and style. Though painting a standard northern European subject, he drew heavily on Venetian landscapes, particularly in the atmospheric effects. It is, in effect, a declaration in favor of the Rococo movement with which Watteau would become so heavily associated.[3]
Acquisition
editThe Country Dance was acquired by the IMA in 1974, a gift of Mrs. Herman C. Krannert. It hangs in the Charles O. McGaughey Gallery and has the accession number 74.98.[3]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ a b Lee, Ellen Wardwell; Robinson, Anne (2005). Indianapolis Museum of Art: Highlights of the Collection. Indianapolis: Indianapolis Museum of Art. ISBN 0936260777.
- ^ Porter, Cecelia Hopkins (2012). Five Lives in Music: Women Performers, Composers, and Impresarios from the Baroque to the Present. Urbana, Illinois: University of Illinois. ISBN 9780252037016.
- ^ a b "The Country Dance". Indianapolis Museum of Art. Retrieved 31 January 2013.
Further reading
edit- Adhémar, Hélène (1950). Watteau; sa vie, son oeuvre (in French). Includes "L’univers de Watteau", an introduction by René Huyghe. Paris: P. Tisné. cat. no. 4. OCLC 853537.
- Camesasca, Ettore [in Portuguese] (1971). The Complete Painting of Watteau. Classics of the World's Great Art. Introduction by John Sutherland. New York: Harry N. Abrams. p. 90, cat. no. 5. ISBN 0810955253. OCLC 143069 – via the Internet Archive.
- Dacier, Émile; Vuaflart, Albert (1922). Jean de Julienne et les graveurs de Watteau au XVIII-e siècle. III. Catalogue (in French). Paris: M. Rousseau. cat. no. 170. OCLC 1039156495.
- Goncourt, Edmond de (1875). Catalogue raisonné de l'oeuvre peint, dessiné et gravé d'Antoine Watteau. Paris: Rapilly. p. 77, cat. no. 81. OCLC 1041772738 – via the Internet Archive.
- Goncourt, Edmond de; Goncourt, Jules de (1880) [1860]. L'art du dix-huitième siècle. 1er fasc.: Watteau (3rd ed.). Paris: A. Quantin. p. 58. OCLC 1157138267 – via the Internet Archive.
- Mathey, Jacques (1959). Antoine Watteau. Peintures réapparues inconnues ou négligées par les historiens (in French). Paris: F. de Nobele. p. 66. OCLC 954214682.
- Posner, Donald (1983–1984). "Antoine Watteau's Country Dance". Perceptions. 3: 27–31.
- Posner, Donald (1984). Antoine Watteau. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson. pp. 15, 18, 20, 21, 160. ISBN 0-8014-1571-3. OCLC 10736607 – via the Internet Archive.
- Réau, Louis (1928–1930). "Watteau". In Dimier, Louis (ed.). Les peintres français du XVIII-e siècle: Histoire des vies et catalogue des œuvres (in French). Vol. 1. Paris: G. Van Oest. p. 36, cat. no. 79. OCLC 564527521.
- Roland Michel, Marianne. Watteau: Tutti I Dipinti. I Maestri (in Italian). Vol. 19. Translated from the French by Marina Anzil Robertini. Milano: Rizzoli. cat. no. 5. OCLC 48636176. OCLC 801077589. Published in French as Tout Watteau. La Peinture. Paris: Flammarion. 1982. ISBN 2-08-012226-6. OCLC 490060827.
- Roland Michel, Marianne (1984). Watteau (in French). Paris: Flammarion. pp. 211, 306. ISBN 9782080120205. OCLC 417153549.
- Wyngaard, Amy S. (2004). From Savage to Citizen: The Invention of the Peasant in the French Enlightenment. Newark: University of Delaware Press. pp. 63–64. ISBN 0-87413-853-1. OCLC 1151830852.
External links
edit- IMA page
- Eidelberg, Martin (November 2019). "La Danse champestre". A Watteau Abecedario. Archived from the original on October 17, 2020. Retrieved October 17, 2020.
- The Country Dance at the Web Gallery of Art