Mezzetin antoine watteau biography

Mezzetin

probably 1718-20; Oil on canvas; 55.2 x 43.2 cm; Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

Watteau is the artist of the wistful - of that longing for the unattainable. To call him a witness to the wistful sounds somewhat contrived, yet he was a perpetual onlooker.

He was a sickly man, who died young - not long after he painted this picture.

Antoine Watteau (1684–1721) - The Metropolitan Museum of Art

He never "belonged", and that sense of alienation is evident. Outsider though he was, he painted scenes of social merrymaking, especially portrayals of that zany and exhilarating company, the commedia dell'arte. Like Bustelli, who was enthralled by these actors, Watteau responded in depth to their grace, but in his case, there is always an undertone of sadness.

In Mezzetin, the wistful has deepened into the sorrowful.

Antoine Watteau (1684–1721) - The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Mezzetin was a comic character, the valet, a buffoon who never got the girl. Dress up though he might, he always failed; and the rest of the cast laughed him to scorn.

Watteau shows Mezz Biography: Jean-Antoine Watteau - THE ART BOG DAC