.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
The greater part of Watteau's surviving drawn oeuvre is made up of figure studies, the majority taken from studio models (see lot 602) but a significant number inspired or even copied from earlier masters. These copies are by no means slavish reproductions of the original but show the artist's response to individual figures and groups which in Pierre Rosenberg's words are 'happily transform[ed] .. into so many admirable Watteaus', P. Rosenberg, 'Watteau's copies after the Old Masters', in A. Wintermute ed., Watteau and his World, exhib. cat., The Frick Collection, New York, and elsewhere, 1999-2000, p. 55.
This is particularly true in the present drawing, in which Watteau studies the figures of a guitarist and a crouching boy from Adriaen Pietersz. van der Venne's Fête donnée a l'occasion de la Trêve de 1609, now in the Louvre. Watteau later incorporated the guitarist into his picture L'amour paisible, now lost but known through an engraving by Bernard Baron (Le Blanc 64). Despite the figure's origins, Watteau has 'managed to make the guitarist his own', P. Rosenberg, op. cit., p. 54.
This reworking of the figure provides a terminus ante quem for the drawing, since L'amour paisible seems to date from Watteau's visit to London in 1719-20, and is possibly connected with the visit of a troupe of French players to London in March 1720. The picture was purchased by Dr. Richard Mead, a physician at Court and one of Watteau's most important London clients. Despite deteriorating health during this brief period, Watteau appears to have painted and sold a great deal. In addition to L'Amour paisible, Dr. Mead also purchased Les comédiens Italiens, now in the National Gallery of Art, Washington. This might suggest that the present sheet also dates from this period, but from what we know of Watteau's working habits, this need not be so. He seems to have developed the practice of compiling notebooks of copied motifs and life studies, to which he would then refer when tackling the complexities of his compositions. He would certainly have taken these precious notes with him to London in order to construct the composition from drawings made years before.
Stylistically, Rosenberg and Prat draw parallels between the delicate handling of the servant's profile with Watteau's drawings of circa 1714. Since this figure, whose pose suggests Veronese but whose origin has not been established, seems to be drawn over the guitarist's foot, the copy after van de Venne may have been drawn as much as six years before the painting in which it was used.
This is particularly true in the present drawing, in which Watteau studies the figures of a guitarist and a crouching boy from Adriaen Pietersz. van der Venne's Fête donnée a l'occasion de la Trêve de 1609, now in the Louvre. Watteau later incorporated the guitarist into his picture L'amour paisible, now lost but known through an engraving by Bernard Baron (Le Blanc 64). Despite the figure's origins, Watteau has 'managed to make the guitarist his own', P. Rosenberg, op. cit., p. 54.
This reworking of the figure provides a terminus ante quem for the drawing, since L'amour paisible seems to date from Watteau's visit to London in 1719-20, and is possibly connected with the visit of a troupe of French players to London in March 1720. The picture was purchased by Dr. Richard Mead, a physician at Court and one of Watteau's most important London clients. Despite deteriorating health during this brief period, Watteau appears to have painted and sold a great deal. In addition to L'Amour paisible, Dr. Mead also purchased Les comédiens Italiens, now in the National Gallery of Art, Washington. This might suggest that the present sheet also dates from this period, but from what we know of Watteau's working habits, this need not be so. He seems to have developed the practice of compiling notebooks of copied motifs and life studies, to which he would then refer when tackling the complexities of his compositions. He would certainly have taken these precious notes with him to London in order to construct the composition from drawings made years before.
Stylistically, Rosenberg and Prat draw parallels between the delicate handling of the servant's profile with Watteau's drawings of circa 1714. Since this figure, whose pose suggests Veronese but whose origin has not been established, seems to be drawn over the guitarist's foot, the copy after van de Venne may have been drawn as much as six years before the painting in which it was used.