Tgp DneFTSMAN

91 TheToilexe,ca.l7l9
Sanguine and black chalk

The Bitish Mueum, London

In his nude studies,'\l7atteau liked to set his models in unuual artitudes in order to give scope to his
draftsmmship. The same may be said of his paintings of sculptures. There are no purely academic nude studies done fo the sake ofmatomical koowledge among \fatreaui known woks.

Antoine 'Watteau is one of the great draftsmen in the history of European att, though drawing had only an ancillary function in his work. Few of his drawings are executed in full graphic deail and can claim

for instance by altering the proportions. In his early

period, he liked to draw tall, very slender figures, which might be amended in later works. Only a few ofthe drawings can be dated as precisely as can a series showing diplomats at the Persian
Embassy in Paris in l7l4ll5. Howevet we can fface a development in \atteau's draftsmanship that enables us

independent artistic existence; most were made as studies, and he was always increasing his stock of drawings so that he could resort to it when composing his paintings. The critical catalog of 1996 by Pierre
Rosenberg and Louis-Antoine Prat lisrs 669 works. In addition, the originals of 216 drawings are now lost,

but they survive reproduced as engravings. 'Tatteaut stock of models for the onamental work that made up a great part ofhis crearive activiry before l7l5 has been especially badly depleted. These motifs

to arrange his drawings in an approximate chronological order - an order confirmed by the paintings in which they wee used, since mmy of the studies were clearly made for a specific picture, md do not owe their existence merely to the artistt wish to increase his stock' Separate studies ofpilgrims, for instance, were made for
both versions of his Embarkation for Cythera (ills. 55'
57), ndthe paintings themselves can indicate whether groups were composed from existing material or as an original ensemble. Eratic as 0'atteaut working Process may sometimes seem, he did have a well thought-out method and seldom ventured on experiments. The method is evident in his technical skills as well. Dezallier d'Argenville gave a reliable account of his technique in
1745: "He generally used sanguine on white PaPer, so that he could make prints showing the subject from both sides; he seldom heightened his drawings with white, because the effect ofwhite was produced by the paper background itself. Many of his drawings were ore in tnuo colors, in black chalk and sanguine or in

obviously seemed less attractive to collectors. In addition, there are only a few composition studies for paintings. Those still extant were very swiftly done, and most ofthem belong to the late period.

in

The Comte de Caylus was therefore not quite correct stating that: "He made not the slightest or most fleeting ofstudies for any ofhis pictures " But it is true

that we know very little about 7'ateau's method of

composition because so few studies have

been

preserved. Caylus confirms what the works themselves tell us: "He used to draw his studies in an album, so that he always had many of them at hand [...] '4ren he

ook it into his head to paint a picture he would tun to his collection, choosing from it those figures that struck him as most suimble. Out of these he composed his groups, usually matching them to the landscape he had prepared or intended to PrePare for them. Only rarely
did he work in any other way."

The vast majoriry of \latreaut drawings are figure

studies: full-length figures, heads, and other details. The structure ofthe hands in particular became increasingly

graphite and sanguine, using tones of red for the head, hands, and skin; sometimes he used'trois crayons,' and then again he might use pastel, or oil paint, or gouache. Anything was acceptable to him - excePt for Pen drawings - if it would produce the effect he wanted.

His

hatchings were almost vertical, sometimes

important to him over the course of time. In general,

the drawings show clearly where the artist's interest la and it was always concentrated on the human figure. Many of the figure drawings emerge in the paintings,

inclining slightly from right to left, or stumped and lightly washed with accentuating lines. " These remarks are confirmed by examination of the extant drawings, though so far no pastel has come to light, and only one oil smdy and one gouache. However,

sometimes
seems

with slight modifications. If no drawing

as

in his late work

V'atteau displays such virtuoso

the basis for a Painted figure, we may assume that there was a study, but it has been lost. Sometimes'ffatteau used studies he had drawn many

to exist

skills in his use ofsanguine (red chalk) and black chalk fo instance in the shades representing the dark,

years earlier, adapting them to the style he now wanted,

glowing skin of African faces - that he comes very close to the pastel technique' His meeting in 1720

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u'irh rhe famous Venetian p:rstel arisr

Cirrrier may have given

hin

Rosalba some ideas in this regard.

His dislike of pen drau'ing, which Gillot usecl toeethet

a rvash, is inrerestine. The firm, clear line of the pen drirrving does not secm to har.e appealed to him. Usirg

u,ith

However, pastel demandecl a larger formar rhan rhe one \Watteau chose fbr his dr:rrvings, u,hich seldorn cxceed 40 crn, rhoush in spite of this snall size he achieved srear f-ic{elity to life and expression in his drawn portrait heads. The suitability ofsansuine drarving for hancl prints, which enable a study to be used several rimcs, is probablv not er)ough to explain farteau's prelerence for this technique. The very e:rrliesr drawings, -om the period when he was still rvorking rvith Gillot, are executed in sanguine. It seems ro have been rhe likeness of the color to a flesh tone and rhe rather graint ellrect of the medirLn that appealed to him.

sanguine, horvcver, he could conbine colored

,rrers

rvirh

lieht hatching. and easily create a transition f}om the clefining line to a painterl)'efIecr. In adclition, Vhtteau used r bmsh onlr.'occ;rsionallr,, rvith rnutecl toues, rnd
then irlw:u's
as

an ingredient used sparingly in

clrarving

9) I/m l'ilgir.crt 1- t
Srneuinc, I6.5 r 19.') crn Siidelsches Kunstinstirur. Fi .:

in sarngrLine, or in sanguinc ancl black challi. -l he French rraclition ofthe portrait clrau,ing in black chalk and sirnguine goes bacli to the e;rrly 1 6th cenrury and Jear Clotret (ca. 1480-1540141), sanquinc beins rvell suited to the.lelicate indication offlesh tones.

Wrtcu oncc drcrv g.-uirr:

figures shorvn hcrc. e rlrr,,L:

:l:

At first \(atreau

rvirs sparing

in his

use

of bltrcli chlk

u,ith s:rnguinc, lut alout 1710 he beean to emplo'

thc lurcLshirs of-his jorrrn... it. ofhc'cLiffcrcncc bcucen !. , [,ilsrimge rnd thc phr iir]. i:.:-iclc around I 700 s r iil.l. .i .:

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black chalk more energeticall and rwo or three years

lirter he was already drawing in the tois oayotts technique, rningling sanguine and black chalk on
rinted paper and heightening them wih white chalk.

In subsequent years he developed a great mastery of

rhis method, with an asonishing wealth olvariations.

with only a felv strokes, some firmly drawn or swiftly added, some far more delicate. Eyes, the joints of limbs, and details of dress are indicated by dots, short strokes, or little hooks. The figures all have an alert gaze, and the rhythmic lines give them a lively
figures sparkle that is moderated by their statuary immobiliry.

93

fiuo Sudies ofa Ladl Sixixg on tbe Gtound, ca.

11 18

Sanguine, 20.2 x 34.1 cm fu jkprentenkabinet, fu jksmuseum, Amsrerdam

The woman sitring on the ground must have been drawn as a study for a fte galatte,btitwas not used in any ofthe known painrings. Obviously this was a study to be kept for possible fuure use, unlike theThtee Pilgins

Despite his very restricted range of subjects, 'Watteau never lapses into mere routine work, but always
surprises the observer

This

with new

ideas.

The development of his genius can in fact be traced rrore clearly in the drawings than the paintings.'I'he earliest loorvn drawings, from the tine when he was working with Gillot, ae hesitant in execution, or pretend to a degree of skill they do not yet really have. In allegorical subjects, he rcproduced existing thenes. At the same timc, howeve he was training himself to note down
rvhat he observed, particularly ar fairs and the thcater; his models thcre dicl not pose for him, they werc fice.

easy and elegant manner obviously derived fiom decorative painring, notable for the musicality of its graceful play oflines. 'W'arteaut sryle of drawing had reached maturiry around 1710, as witnessed by a study of pilgrims in sanguine (ill. 92) fb the painting The Island of C1,theru (ill. 54). Here the atist had access to models whor he could obseve extensively, and out-of-doos, to judge

(ill.92).

by the way the shadows fll. He drew the pilgrim

striding out on the left ofthe study first - he appears to the right of the painting, partly obscured. The shadows cast on his coar by his pelerine and left arm are clearly
shown. A fw strokes give a strongly expressive character

Actors have to rnake larger-than-life gestures, so that they can le seen from a distance, and tVatteau's little irgures do appear to have been drawn from some way Lrfl. Sornetimes they appear combined into groups and scenes in his studies, sometimes ranged side by side as if in .r catalog, sometilnes in two rows. He observed the puppeclike aspect of an actor's movernent, and developed a facility fbr depicting his

to his face, which is framed by tight curls. 'Watteau shows differenr textures offabric, for instance the fine,
crurnpled silk ofthe man's kneebreeches. The cut ofthe coat is evident in a single line at the hips, and even the butronholes are clearly visible. A real costume could easily be made from this drarving, which clearly shows the artist's precise knowledge of fashion. But he has

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Watteatrt

An inreresr in individual figures of striking and foreign appearance can be obsenecl as e;). as

series of drau,inqs of cliplomats at the per.sian Enrbassv in Paris, done in 1711t115. In tlre case ofhis

Wtteiru drew her orhcr profilc. ,,, i : rurned to eirch othe. thotrgh thcr. (illri

.:

Savoyard cirry,ings. it hrs le.-n suegested rhrt thqscre irrspircd lr rll, .lcl,icrions ol poor..rllLrr lLlli execured b1. rhe Lc Nair brorhcrs (Antoine.

1602-l6z18; Louis, 1616 1648: and

N4athieu.

1610-1677). Bur it is also possible iltar WtrreaLt ,as druut to sucfi people because, like tem, he was irn outsideri as a Fleming who u,as only on the fringes of Paris sociery nor ar irs center, he may have felt an

or)( \iLlr. \\,lrtcrl tllc.r.lrcrr Iltc rrorrr.1 li,.,,,r,... timcs in a different drt-ss s,itir a ruftlc,cl collar. The profiles rop right, looking in oprosite clirccrions, are parriculiull curious, ,ith their hair arl coll:rn
touching, and w.ith t rottch of htunor re ar.rrr rs added the heac{ of a nlan ro rhe eight stuclies of the woman, to fill rhc rcmaininq errpr), srrcc. Of the various costurnes worn by Watteru\ rnoclels, Cr,lus tells us: "He had ga/ant clothes, sonre of rhem srage
costumes, in which he rvould clress the pcrsons
sexes

Belou'is a slightly snr,lllcr virr;.rr or rhis rsirion: rhc bocly is ruured fbrlarcl, but rh., hcacl is rtrne.l ,rr..,rl, ro

of the Persians and Savoyards from the mass of rWatteaut studies: he drew these people for rhei own sake, not
as part ofhis stock ofmaterial for paintings. Although he did larer painr a single figure ofa Savoyard boy (ill.

understanding for other boderline figures. Another leature distinguishes the drawings

ofboth

who modeled for him, and u,horr he rainted in the attitudes that nature sugsesred to him, preltrring

simple poses ro any orhers." 'Watteau's pleasure in depictins the lavish fblds of voluminous female dress, a constirnrlv recurring motif in his paintines, is also evident in a latc srnguinc sttrcll, showing thc same woman iu rhc s:lnrc trirurlc from

98), the picture merely confirms that this model

an excePtion.

was

The studies of black boys, also dating from around the middle oF rhe decade, are rarher different. In all
three works, black men feature as servanrs. young and well dressed, they featured as interesting examples of

exoticism in high sociery Such people somerimes also appeared as luxurious ad.juncts in portraits. In the famous drawing of three studies of the head of a Negro boy (ill. 94), the way the atist draw his model frorn several angles indicates that his interest is not in the individual but the rype. The study on rhe left was done first, and is a head and shoulders portrait; the boy's remote expression shows that he is obviously
boed. Nex came the study top right, in which l/atteau was placed slightly above his model, who is looking

both in front and behind (ill.93). \fe cen tell thrr he went around ro her orher side by the u,ay the liehr f.ills from the right in the fronr vicrv and thc left in rhc back view. In the firsr study the niodel's charming head. seen in profile, and her lively hands are important features; in the second, however, the line of the folds drawn swiftly and energerically by rhe artist, observing the cut of the dress, are the almos exclusive souce of interesr. 'We guess at the body benearh the gown in an attitude that contrasts markedly with gownt elegance. The studies could have been used fbr a picture of a in the open air, but do not occrLr in any painting. Fom the srart Varreau rnusr have intended
gathering
to give the drawing
a

both attentively and skepticallv ro one side. Finall he him again in profile, seen from just below, and emphasizing his full cheeks and chin. In all three studies Vatteau tried to reproduce the effect of the boy's skin color with a mixture of black chalk, rwo shades ofsanguine, and a gray wash. The cap covering the head in the study ar the botrom was presumably chosen to avoid the presence of a dark area at the center of the sheet, and to form a link with the clorhirre in rhe wo srudies above ir. The way the arrisr distanced himself from his sitters is particularly clear in many studies of women's heads,
gave the boy a cap and drew

pleasing balance.
was

The atmosphere in which so lively a drawing

done can be imagined om a commenr on \latteau by Caylus: "He spent mosr of his tine in a feu'rooms I kept in different quarters of Paris, and which served us

for the painting and drawing of models. Here, dedicated to arr alone and free fi.om all distractions, he
and

I, with a murual friend of similar

inclinations,

ofyouth and rhc livcly porver of the imagination, both of them alwavs at one with
experienced the purejoy the enchanted spell cast on us by painting."

which, rhough brilliandy caught, seem to be viewed

through a pane ofglass. Tatteau has come close to his models, but has nor let their personaliry ouch him.
Heads looking forwad and appealing directly to the viewe are few. Jullienne remarked of his fricnd that he was cool and indifferent to others, an impression that can be gleaned from a drawing showing eight srudies of the same woman wearing rwo different dresses (ill. 95). ci. 1-15 i;l:lk. nsh. ll.5 x Ii.l cm [)i:tsni < delle Srrmpe. Gailerie degli Uffizi
:,,1.,7

]n these surroundings \flatteau rlso drew nude studies, but he very seldom used them in his paintings.
The chaise longue on which the won.ran feeling her left foot is sitting (ill. 91) occurs in several drawings of female nudes. Not only does her physical attitude, with her arms deliberarely brought together and her left leg raised, remind one of the lare Diana Bathing (rll. 115), but her delicate head is very like Dianat, and rve may assume that the same model was used. The girl's dress, drawn in black chalk, lies between her arms and her body and is lalling alvay ro rhe left. Only the detail of rhe right fbot drawn in sanguine emerges below, echoing the red collar ofhe dress ro rhe rop right. The

She is nor looking straighr ar the viewer in any of them. The firsr to be executed was the head in right profile, leaning slightly backward. The lighr falling in From rhe left illuminares the rip ofher nose but leaves her face in shadow. The arisr seems to have paid most

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attention to her hairsryle and her ear, a Feature on

which he also rvorked carefully in other studies. Nexr

contours of her body rre clraxr very strongl in contrast to rhe softer modeling of the interior part, a feature that again clearly shows Antoine Wareau's

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concern nor only to depict sensuous charm but to achieve a clear and original form in this drawing. The subjects of his drawings were almosr all of the human figure, but there are some animal studies full of characte and a few landscape drawings recording the artist's immediate impressions of nature. Finally, the works'Tatteau copied in drawings are

infomative in showing which artists he particularly admired. He drew copies afrer Rubens, van Dyck, Titian, Veronese, Giacomo and Leandro Bassano,
Schedone. Feti, and the Le Nain brothers. The only one

of his contemporaies whom he copied was Nicolas Vleughels. Copies after Domenico Campagnola (ca. 1500-1564), a conremporary of Titian, were particularly importanr for the landscape backgrounds of his paintings. Pierre Crozat had probably brought the originals back from Italy in 17 l5 (tll. 97). 1715 was the year of Louis XIV's death, and the regency of Philippe d'Olans brought innovations into at. A new preference for a light, witry style was part of the springtime mood, and artisticaily it went

in hand with a revaluation of the merirs of drawing. 'Tatteau was one of rhe arrisrs who benefited; at least, thar is the only way of explaining why Jean de Jullienne had no fewer rhan 35 1 of the master's studies reproduced in engravings, which he publish ed, in 1726 and 1728, and why this previously undervalued genre found enthusiastic collecrors.
hand

The golden age of l8th-century French drawing

begins with Vatteau. It was to be brilliantly continued

in the work of Frangois Boucher (1703-1770) and, Jean-Honor Fragonard (17 32 -1805).
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97

Tiuo Shepber& Under Trees, ca. 17

lb

Redchalk, 19.2x25.8c
Muse des Beaux-Arrs et d'Archologie, Besangon

A copy from Domenico Campagnola. In his backgrounds Watteau liked to use the architectural features rypical ofCampagnola - old, overgrown, partly ruined buildiogs wich medieval feacures. Here Vatteau has been influenced by Campagnolat sryle ofdrawing, with the vegetation, the contours ofrhe terrain, and the buildings a-11
rendered in shorr, rhythmic srrokes and hooks,
a

style that also

influenced Vrreau\ brushwork in his painrrngs.