Jean-Antoine Watteau

In this week’s episode of “Travels with a Curator,” travel with Xavier F. Salomon, Peter Jay Sharp Chief Curator, to Valenciennes, the birthplace of the Rococo painter Jean-Antoine Watteau. Delve into the historical events surrounding Watteau’s "Portal at Valenciennes" (ca. 1710–11), a scene of soldiers at rest near the ramparts of the town. Known for his depictions of garden frolics, Watteau seldom portrayed military life—“The Portal” is one of only three such paintings that survive today.

As demonstrated by the special exhibition Watteau's Soldiers: Scenes of Military Life in Eighteenth-Century France, Watteau’s soldiers reveal a paradox: their bodies and minds seem docile, subjugated to military discipline, yet they also relay a vibrant participation in and processing of the experience of war. Discover how this paradox revolutionized military thought during the French Enlightenment and ushered in a new understanding of the costs of war on the human body, mind, and heart.

An introductory video for the exhibition, Watteau's Soldiers, on view at The Frick Collection from July 12, through October 2, 2016. 

Jean-Antoine Watteau's military works proffer a modern vision of war in which the soldier's inner life is brought to the fore. This talk, presented by the curator of the special exhibition Watteau's Soldiers: Scenes of Military Life in Eighteenth-Century France, examines how the problem of representing interiority informed the artist's working methods. 

Susan Grace Galassi, Senior Curator at The Frick Collection, introduces the exhibition Masterpieces from the Scottish National Gallery, on view in the East Gallery through February 1, 2015.