Antoine Watteau is an artist whose biography is described in this article. He was one of the most original and famous in the 18th century. And he became the creator of a new style - Rococo, based on the traditions of Dutch and Flemish art.
early years
Artist Antoine Watteau was born on 10.10.1684 in the city of Valenciennes. Initially, the city was Flemish, but then moved to France. Antoine's father worked as a carpenter and roofer, but earned a little. Nevertheless, noticing his son's interest in drawing, when Antoine painted small paintings from everyday life, he gave it to a local artist for training.
But his teacher could not be called talented. His lessons gave almost nothing to Antoine. And at age 18, he went on foot to Paris, wanting to find a mentor who would help him improve in painting.
First job
Since 1702, Antoine has been living in Paris. At first he had to be pretty tight. To feed himself, he got a job as an apprentice with artists in the workshop of Marietta, which was located on the Notre Dame bridge. The painters painted for a merchant who was interested only in the quick sale of paintings. The owner of the workshop paid pennies to his workers. And for them, the painters copied the lurid paintings. Watteau is an artist who was indignant at this attitude to art. But he had to endure until he found a real teacher.
The first real teacher - C. Gillo
And fate presented Antoine with a gift - a meeting with C. Gillo, a real talented artist. Watteau became his student. C. Gillo preferred to write rural subjects, theater scenes, village holidays. Watteau mastered this subject to perfection and subsequently often adhered to it. She was close to him in spirit. But it soon became clear that the inclinations and tastes of Gillo and Watteau in many ways did not coincide. And this led to the severance of their relationship. But this did not prevent Antoine from maintaining respect and appreciation for the teacher throughout his life.
New Teacher - C. Audran
Watteau began the search for a new teacher. They became Claude Audran. He was engaged in decoration and woodcarving. From 1707 to 1708, Watteau worked and studied under C. Audran. These classes taught him fluency, expressiveness and ease in painting. Since Audran was the curator of the painting collection of the Luxembourg Palace, Antoine also had the opportunity to admire the art of old masters.
Most of all he was attracted by the paintings of Rubens. Partly due to the fact that he was also a Flemish, and the art of the master possessed a tactile persuasiveness. But Watteau wanted to paint his paintings, and not copy other people's ideas. And he decided to leave Audran.
Watteau is fundamentally changing his life
Under the pretext of wanting to travel to his native land, Antoine said goodbye to his teacher. Arriving home, Watteau painted several paintings. And when he returned to Paris, he applied to the Academy of Arts to participate in the competition. The winner had to go to further study in Rome. But only second place was given to Watteau. The artist, who took the first, subsequently could not become a great master.
Education
But in any case, Antoine needed to get an education. And his path still lay through the Academy of Arts. In 1712, Watteau managed to enter this institution. He had the opportunity to receive the title of academician, which he received in 1718.
Life and art
After some time, he became a famous Parisian artist. His paintings were very popular, and fans did not give a pass, wanting to communicate with a talented painter. This is partly why Watteau often had to change his place of residence.
But the reason for this was also some qualities of nature. Watteau is an artist, which were inherent inconstancy and love for change. So the constant moving not only saved him from the excessive attention of fans, but also satisfied his emotional outbursts. He needed silence. Watteau loved to copy paintings by old artists. And this had a great impact on his own work.
As friends described Antoine, he was fragile and of medium height. His mind was always perceptive, vibrant. Watteau spoke little, he expressed all his emotions in drawings and paintings. Constant thoughtfulness created a feeling of a certain melancholy nature. Antoine was often cold in communication, which even embarrassed his friends, making them feel awkward.
Indifference was one of Watteau's serious flaws. Another “fad” is contempt for money. The huge popularity of his paintings and the amounts that were offered for them annoyed the artist. He always believed that they paid too much for the works of art he wrote, and returned everything that seemed to him to be surplus.
Antoine painted drawings, like paintings, not for sale, but exclusively for himself, expressing on paper and canvas the most subtle nuances of human emotions - irony, anxiety, sadness. The characters of Watteau's works were shy, awkward, flirty, etc. And it is amazing how the artist could convey these subtle shades of the human soul.
Watteau is an artist who created a new style - Rococo. All Antoine's paintings are saturated with light virtuosity of writing, a variety of tonal shades, and poetic play. Many of the paintings stored at the Academy of Arts acquired honorary status. Watteau transferred many of the plots to the canvas, starting from his sketch drawings. Even early works anticipated the future style of the true master.
Illness and death of the artist
French artist Watteau died July 18, 1721 at the age of 36 years. The cause of death was consumption. Part of the disease was aggravated by a trip to England in 1720. He lived there for almost a year. In England, Watteau worked a lot, and his paintings were a huge success. But the climate of this country did not contribute to good health, which began to deteriorate. Even before the trip to England, Watteau fell ill with consumption. And this disease began to progress. Watteau returned home completely sick.
He settled with a friend who sold paintings. But due to illness, Watteau became very weak and worked only in the morning. Six months later, he wished to change his place of residence, and friends helped him move to Nozhan. But the disease did not recede. Watteau was weakening more and more, he wanted to return to his home, but did not have time.