The Cleveland Museum of Art
Collection Online as of May 13, 2024
Study for "The Romancer" (Le Conteur)
c. 1716
(French, 1684–1721)
Sheet: 35 x 27.5 cm (13 3/4 x 10 13/16 in.); Secondary Support: 35.1 x 27.8 cm (13 13/16 x 10 15/16 in.)
Dudley P. Allen Fund 1928.661
Location: not on view
Did You Know?
Jean Antoine Watteau likely drew this sheet from a combination of life study and imagination, working from a model and adding other elements of his own creation.Description
This sheet was a preparatory study for the painting The Romancer. An actor in the costume of Mezzetin, a stock character of the commedia dell’arte (a type of satirical theatrical entertainment of Italian origin popular in aristocratic circles in 18th-century France), interrupts a guitarist with a bold sexual advance. Another actor dressed as the French pantomime stock character Pierrot peers lasciviously over the young musician’s shoulder. A more detailed study of Pierrot’s head occupies the upper left corner of the sheet, demonstrating Jean Antoine Watteau’s experimentation with how to most effectively depict a lecherous gaze.- ?-?Andrew James, London?-1891Sarah Ann James, London1891(her sale, London, Christie's, June 22-23, 1891, no. 334)?-?(Agnew, London)?-1928(Richard Owen, Paris, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH)1928-Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
- H. S. F. “‘The Romancer,’ a Drawing by Jean Antoine Watteau.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 16, no. 10 (1929): 179–81. Reproduced: Front Matter; mentioned: pp. 179-181. www.jstor.orgH. S. F. "Drawings in the Classic and Romantic Tradition before 1830." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 19, no. 10 (1932): 166-75. Mentioned p. 167 25137511The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Handbook. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958. Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 591 archive.orgThe Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966. Reproduced: p. 133 archive.orgThe Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969. Reproduced: p. 133 archive.orgThe Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 175 archive.orgThe Mask of Comedy: The Art of Italian Commedia. Exh. Cat. Louisville, KY: J. B. Speed Memorial Art Museum, 1990. Mentioned and reproduced: no. 10
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- {{cite web|title=Study for "The Romancer" (Le Conteur)|url=false|author=Jean Antoine Watteau|year=c. 1716|access-date=13 May 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}
Source URL:
https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1928.661