WATTEAU, Jean Antoine, French painter: b. Valenciennes, 10 Oct. 1684; d. Nogent-sur-Marne, 18 July 1721. His parents, whose situation in life was humble, with diffi culty contrived to give him the instructions of a very inferior master in the country. In 1702 he went to Paris, in company with a scene-painter, with whom he continued to work for a few months. Soon afterward he found employment with one Claude Gillot, who, although only a painter of decorations for ballet and a designer of costumes and of patterns for tapestry, was a true artist. With him he found an opportunity of practising in all these branches of art and when he left him he found another master in Claude Audran, a very able man, keeper of the Luxembourg. who was of great service to him in opening to him the famous gallery of the palace in which Ruben had painted in allegory the history of Marie de Medids. From the study of the great Flemish master he improved his coloring and when he left Audran in 1709 he was a consummate master of his art and a painter of •Fetes Galantes.* He now began to paint on his own account, but met at first with little encouragement. He failed to secure the 'Prix de Rome,' which would have enabled him to visit Italy, but soon afterward scored a tri umph by his 'Un Depart de Troupes.' He was
admitted to the Acadie in 1717 as a painter of 'Fetes Galantes' and produced many pic tures whose power and grace in drawing and coloring his rivals strove in vain to emulate. His subjects were all genre, military and civil. He excelled in reproducing the costumes, airs and graces of the fashionable world of his time. His 'L'oocution selon l'Agel sold in 1891 for S27,300. The finest collection of Wat teau paintings is in Berlin, others are to be seen in the Wallace collection, London, in the Louvre, Paris, and in the Petrocrad, Vienna, Edinburgh and Glasgow galleries. Consult Goncourt, E. 'Catalogue ralsonne de Eceuvre print, dessir4 et grave d'Antoine Watteau' (Paris 1875j; Pater, W., 'A Prince of Court Painters' (in 'Imaginary Portraits' London 1887) Foster, J. J. 'French Art from Watteau to TAxl'hon' (London 1903); Mauclaire, C.. 'De Watteau i Whistler' (Paris 1905); Pion, E., 'Watteau et son Book' (Brussels 1912) • Staley, E., 'Watteau and his school' (Londce; 19021.