The Dance

Artist Jean-Baptiste Pater (French, 1695–1736)

Dateabout 1730

Mediumoil on canvas

Dimensionscanvas: 96.8 x 130.2 cm (38 1/8 x 51 1/4 in.)

ClassificationsPaintings

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Terms

Object number1942.53

Label TextPater was a student of the great eighteenth-century master Watteau, but he never approached him in talent. From his teacher, he took over the theme of the fête galante, a romantic grouping of elegant court figures within a dreamlike landscape. He repeated the theme often, with little inventiveness but with a sensitive handling of color and detail. This painting is probably a fairly late example of Pater's fête galante designs. It is still closely related to certain of Watteau's paintings, for Pater freely incorporated groups of figures from his master's work into his own paintings throughout his career. ProvenanceCollection of Baron Gustave de Rothschild; collection of Baron Lambert, Brussels; M. Knoedler & Co., Inc., New York, NY, by 1942; purchased by the Worcester Art Museum, November 24, 1942.

On View

Not on view