Written for an Art History class, this is a review of the Watteau exhibit currently at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City is a phenomenal place to visit. At almost a quarter mile in length, it is without a doubt the largest museum I have ever been to. Not only is the size of the building overwhelming, but so are the enormous collections of all types of art. Along with this comes unbelievably large crowds. I visited several exhibits and felt rushed by the line behind me. That is until I discovered Watteau. Finding the small exhibit called “Watteau, Music, and Theater,” was like finding a diamond in the rough.
The star of the exhibit was Jean-Antoine Watteau (1684-1721) who, according to the wall plaque at the entrance to the exhibit, was the most important artist in France during the eighteenth century. All the artwork in the exhibit was made during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, but it was not all created by Watteau. Half of the exhibit was artwork by other French artists. The various artists painted very similar themes and therefore blended very nicely together. Some of these other artists were Claude Gillot, Jean I Berain, Charles-Nicolas II Cochin, just to name a few.
The exhibit, consisting of about fifty items, was split into two rooms. The first room contained mainly drawings. Watteau created such wonderful studies of the human positioning, and he did so with very few materials and colors. On a wall in the first room hung several of Watteau’s fantastic drawings that were made with red, white, or black chalk on brown, gray, or cream laid paper. One of these studies caught my eye. So simple, yet so perfect. The Head of a Man was made with red and black chalk on buff antique laid paper. It is quite literally only the head and neck of a young man. His head is tilted back and to the side. The look on his face is sorrowful and heartbreaking. His skin was sketched with red chalk, and black chalk was used as shadow modeling. There is something so beautiful about the simpleness of Watteau’s chalk masterpiece.
The chalk sketches, like all the artwork in both rooms, was aligned in horizontal rows placed at eye level. The smaller pieces are often stacked on top of each other sporadically throughout the rooms; however, they keep with the illusion that everything is placed horizontally. Instruments and porcelain figurines are placed into display cases off to the side of each room. The porcelain figurines were women wearing colorful ballroom gowns; they were nice to look at but were definitely not the highlight of the exhibit. The seventeenth century instruments include a baroque flute and a few violins, all in excellent condition. As a student of the violin, I was quite in awe of the value of these very antique and beautiful instruments.
The second room featured a collection of oil on canvas paintings. While not entirely Watteau’s, the themes were very similar. So much so that at times I had a hard time deciphering which paintings were Watteau’s and which were painted by others. I relied heavily on the text labels beside each painting. Although the drawings in the first room were wonderful, in my opinion the second room is much more impressive. The room is alive. The canvases evoke music and laughter. The paintings depicted mainly scenes of aristocracy at large dances, picnics, and the theater. Most pieces include one or more performing musician. This makes the instruments display cases make sense. Watteau’s beautiful paintings really set the tone, no pun intended.
The artwork was thematically arranged. For instance, the paintings French Comedians and Italian Comedians are placed next to each other. Love in the French Theater and Love in the Italian Theater are not right next to each other, but they are on the same wall with only one painting in between them having a similar theme. One thing I really liked about the exhibit was that many of the titles really described the paintings well. There was no guessing what was happening in the scene portrayed in the artwork.
Like the flowing gowns twirling around a dancing woman so familiar in many of the paintings, my eyes freely strolled around the room. The paintings yell stories, and they are fun, for the most part. I think this is the reason why the painting Mezzetin caught my attention. Although the painting keeps with the musical theme of Watteau’s other pieces, this one isn’t happy. Another difference is that it tells a story not identifiable by the title, I had to really examine the piece. Somehow it is out of place. The man sitting on the bench has a rather somber expression. Before I even noticed his face, my eye was drawn to his clothing. He is wearing an outfit similar to what I’d imagine a court jester would wear to entertain a king. His fancy shoes have a pastel pink flower stitched onto each of them. The pink color of the silk flowers matches his cloak and hat. This was clearly one well put together outfit, surely not a poor man, which again is like most of Watteau’s characters. This man in the painting is playing a guitar and singing, he is in the spotlight. Behind him are shrubs and a row of trees. Standing in the shadows is a woman facing away. It is assumed that he is playing for her. The private moment between the pair could be interpreted as sweet. However, the atmosphere is much more sad than it is romantic.
As soon as I unlocked my gaze from the painting the sad feeling lifted. The ambiance of the exhibit is energizing and addictive. I felt way too under dressed and bland in my gray sweater next to the vibrant colorful outfits of both woman and man alike that came alive in the musical paintings.
Not only are the actions and attires of the figures in the paintings extravagant, but so are the picture frames. Every single painting and drawing in the entire exhibit was framed in a large and extremely ornate gold frame. Some were shiny and some were dulled, perhaps by time. Nevertheless, it is obvious that this must have been the thing to do for a good presentation of artwork during this time period in France, a cultural convention.
I really enjoyed this exhibit. From themes that I can relate to such as music and theater, to the relaxing feeling that I wasn’t being rushed along because the crowds weren’t streaming in behind me. This gave me time to submerge myself into the vibrant colors and swirling gowns that drew me in. The only criticism I have of the exhibit was the lack of information on the text cards beside each piece. They told the artist’s name, the year made and materials used. But they gave no other insight into the artwork. Had there not been a paragraph posted outside the exhibit I would know nothing about Watteau. Even though the artwork was easy to decipher, I wish I could have learned more about them. The audio guide told the same information as the entrance text did, so it was little help. I actually found out later while looking at exhibit information on the museum’s website that the Head of a Man was the study for Mezzetin. That never occurred to me while I was at the museum, and there was no information on the text card besides these pieces to direct me to look at the other. It is funny however, that of all the pieces in the exhibit that I was attracted to this character in both rooms- one was chalk on paper and the other oil on canvas. Despite my displeasure with the amount of commentary, I thoroughly enjoyed the exhibit and would recommend it to anyone. I can’t wait to get back to the museum to see what else it has to offer!