The Surprise (Watteau)

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The Surprise (c. 1718) by Antoine Watteau Jean-Antoine Watteau La Surprise, oil on panel.jpg
The Surprise (c. 1718) by Antoine Watteau

The Surprise (La Surprise) is an oil on panel painting by the French Rococo artist Antoine Watteau, created c. 1718, now held in the J. Paul Getty Museum, in Los Angeles. The painting depicts showing a male guitarist, dressed as Mezzetino, watching an embracing couple embrace, with a small dog watching the whole scene; it notably exhibits Watteau's use of recurrent figures, as well as the influence of Flemish Baroque painting on his art.

Contents

The Surprise was a pendant to Perfect Harmony , now in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art; both works were originally owned by Watteau's friend Nicolas Hénin, but they were sold separately by his heir, who published an engraving of both works. Surprise then disappeared between 1770 and 1848 and again between 1848 and 2007. The original was rediscovered in March 2008 in a British country house and had been in that family's collection since 1848. It was sold for 15 million Euros at Christie's in London on 8 July 2008.

Origin

L'Accord Parfait is in the museum in Los Angeles, but the Surprise has had several owners over the years and was last referenced in 1764 in the catalog of a collector who claimed to be its owner, the photo was known only from the picture and a copy which appeared in the Royal Collection at Buckingham Palace in London.

The original was rediscovered in March 2008, in the corner of a room in the country house of a British family, by an expert who came to appraise another work there. [1] According to this expert, the painting had been in this family since 1848, who were unaware of its importance and value. [2] Sold at auction on July 8, 2008, by Christie's in London, the Surprise reached a value of 15 million euros. [3]

Further reading

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<i>Mezzetino</i> (Watteau) Painting by Antoine Watteau

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<i>Fêtes Vénitiennes</i> 1719 painting by Antoine Watteau

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<i>La Boudeuse</i> (painting) Painting by Antoine Watteau

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<i>Polish Woman</i> Painting attributed to Antoine Watteau

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<i>The Robber of the Sparrows Nest</i> Painting by Antoine Watteau

The Robber of the Sparrow's Nest is an oil painting by the French Rococo artist Antoine Watteau, now in the National Galleries of Scotland, Edinburgh. Variously dated between 1709 and 1716, the painting is a pastoral scene that is one of a few extant arabesques in Watteau's art; it shows a young couple with a dog, sitting at a sparrow's nest; it has been thought to be influenced by Flemish Baroque painting, exactly by Peter Paul Rubens' painting from the Marie de' Medici cycle.

<i>Two Studies of an Actor</i> Drawing by Antoine Watteau

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<i>Holy Family</i> (Watteau) Painting by Antoine Watteau

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<i>The Dreamer</i> (painting) Painting by Antoine Watteau

The Dreamer is an oil on panel painting of c. 1712–1717 in the Art Institute, Chicago, by the French Rococo artist Antoine Watteau. The painting is a single-figure, full-length composition that shows a seated young woman amid a landscape, dressed in somewhat an exotic attire consisting of long red gown with fur garment and white bonnet; it is a recurring subject that is also present in numerous paintings and drawings by Watteau such as The Coquettes, dit Actors of the Comédie-Française. There were attempts to identify the sitter of the painting, who was notably thought to be Watteau's contemporary, the Comédie-Française actress Charlotte Desmares.

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