Watteau, (Jean) Antoine 1684-1721
French painter

Born in Valenciennes, he ran away to Paris in 1702 and worked as a scene painter at the Opera and as a copyist. After 1712 his early canvases were mostly military scenes, but it was the mythological Embarquement pour l'�sle de Cyth�re which won him membership of the Academy (1717). While staying at the castle of Montmorency he painted his F�tes galantes, quasi-pastoral idylls in court dress which became fashionable in high society. A lifelong sufferer from tuberculosis, he visited London in 1720 to consult the celebrated Dr Richard Mead (1673-1754), but his health was rapidly deteriorating. On his return he painted his last great work, depicting the interior of the shop of his art-dealer friend Gersaint, drawn from nature and intended as a signboard, but in fact the most classical and most perfectly composed of his paintings. Essentially aristocratic in conception, Watteau's paintings fell into disfavour at the Revolution, and it was not until the end of the 19th century that they regained popularity. He is now regarded as a forerunner of the Impressionists in his handling of colour and study of nature. He influenced and was imitated by many later artists, most notably Jean Honor� Fragonard and Fran�ois Boucher.