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X. Vergnen im Freien

Entered September 2021 

Blank

 

Whereabouts unknown

Oil on canvas

70 x 70 cm

 

ALTERNATE TITLES

Outdoor Fun   

 

PROVENANCE

Bern, Switzerland, sale, Dobiaschofsky Auktionen, May 7, 1994, lot 1622: In the manner of Jean Antoine Watteau, 70 x 70 cm, 27.6 26.6 in. Est, 10,000 CHF (9,979 USD). Bought in.

 

 

REMARKS

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Watteau, Plaisir pastoral (detail). Chantilly, Musée Condé.

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Anonymous, Vergnen im Freien (detail), whereabouts unknown.

This painting is a perfect example of a pastiche after Watteau. The principal figures—the dancing shepherd and shepherdess as well as the seated cornet player—are all taken with little change from Watteau’s Les Bergers. 

 

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Watteau, L’Accord parfait (detail). Los Angeles, Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

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Anonymous, Vergnen im Freien (detail), whereabouts unknown.

On the other hand, the strolling couple at the left and the reclining guitarist are from Watteau’s L’Accord parfait. The skillful union of these two groups into an organic whole is something that even Watteau might have approved. Even the rhythm of the landscape accommodates the figures quite gracefully.