Fête galante in a Landscape

Jean-Baptiste Pater was the only pupil trained directly by Antoine Watteau, and his Fête galante in a Landscape from around 1730 exemplifies his continuation and popularization of his master's invented genre. The fête galante — elegantly dressed figures gathered for music, conversation, and flirtation in a parklike landscape — was the defining image of French Rococo sociability. Pater's versions are somewhat more conventional and less melancholic than Watteau's, tending toward a brighter palette and more festive mood, but they preserve the essential charm of the genre and were enormously popular with collectors.

Pater's composition disperses figures through a leafy landscape setting with a characteristic theatrical informality. His palette is lighter and more pastel than Watteau's, with figures rendered in silky fabrics of pink, white, and gold against silvery-green foliage.