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, French, 1695-1736
Title
Fête Champêtre
Date1730s
MediumOil on canvas
Dimensions
38 x 47 cm
Credit LineMilltown Gift, 1902
Object numberNGI.729
Exhibition HistoryVon Poussin bis Monet. Die Farben Frankreichs, The Arp Museum Bahnhof Rolandseck, Remagen, 22 March - 6 September 2015; Bucerius Kunst Forum, Hamburg, 10 October 2015 - 17 January 2016

Label TextA group of elegantly dressed young people are shown lounging and flirting in an idyllic landscape setting. Painted by the northern French artist Pater, it is of a type known as fêtes galantes – courtship scenes – that were popularised by Watteau in the early 1700s. Pater and Watteau were from the same town, and Pater briefly became the elder artist’s pupil c.1710 and again in 1721. Like his teacher, Pater filled notebooks with studies in red chalk and often reused the poses of figures in his paintings. This picture is one of a pair; its pendant is also in this room.