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91 TheToilexe,ca.l7l9Sanguine and black chalkThe Bitish Mueum, LondonIn his nude studies,'\l7atteau liked to set his models inunuual artitudes in order to give scope to hisdraftsmmship. The same may be said of his paintings ofsculptures. There are no purely academic nude studiesdone fo the sake ofmatomical koowledge among\fatreaui known woks.

Tgp DneFTSMAN

Antoine 'Watteau is one of the great draftsmen in thehistory of European att, though drawing had only anancillary function in his work. Few of his drawings areexecuted in full graphic deail and can claimindependent artistic existence; most were made asstudies, and he was always increasing his stock ofdrawings so that he could resort to it when composinghis paintings. The critical catalog of 1996 by PierreRosenberg and Louis-Antoine Prat lisrs 669 works. Inaddition, the originals of 216 drawings are now lost,but they survive reproduced as engravings.

'Tatteaut stock of models for the onamental workthat made up a great part ofhis crearive activiry beforel7l5 has been especially badly depleted. These motifsobviously seemed less attractive to collectors. Inaddition, there are only a few composition studies forpaintings. Those still extant were very swiftly done,and most ofthem belong to the late period.

The Comte de Caylus was therefore not quite correctin stating that: "He made not the slightest or mostfleeting ofstudies for any ofhis pictures " But it is truethat we know very little about 7'ateau's method ofcomposition because so few studies have beenpreserved. Caylus confirms what the works themselvestell us: "He used to draw his studies in an album, so thathe always had many of them at hand [...] '4ren heook it into his head to paint a picture he would tun tohis collection, choosing from it those figures that struckhim as most suimble. Out of these he composed hisgroups, usually matching them to the landscape he hadprepared or intended to PrePare for them. Only rarelydid he work in any other way."The vast majoriry of \latreaut drawings are figurestudies: full-length figures, heads, and other details. Thestructure ofthe hands in particular became increasinglyimportant to him over the course of time. In general,the drawings show clearly where the artist's interest laand it was always concentrated on the human figure.

Many of the figure drawings emerge in the paintings,sometimes with slight modifications. If no drawingseems to exist as the basis for a Painted figure, we mayassume that there was a study, but it has been lost.

Sometimes'ffatteau used studies he had drawn manyyears earlier, adapting them to the style he now wanted,

for instance by altering the proportions. In his earlyperiod, he liked to draw tall, very slender figures, whichmight be amended in later works.

Only a few ofthe drawings can be dated as preciselyas can a series showing diplomats at the PersianEmbassy in Paris in l7l4ll5. Howevet we can fface adevelopment in \atteau's draftsmanship that enables usto arrange his drawings in an approximate chrono-logical order - an order confirmed by the paintings inwhich they wee used, since mmy of the studies wereclearly made for a specific picture, md do not owe theirexistence merely to the artistt wish to increase his stock'Separate studies ofpilgrims, for instance, were made forboth versions of his Embarkation for Cythera (ills. 55'57), ndthe paintings themselves can indicate whethergroups were composed from existing material or as anoriginal ensemble.

Eratic as 0'atteaut working Process may sometimesseem, he did have a well thought-out method andseldom ventured on experiments. The method isevident in his technical skills as well. Dezallierd'Argenville gave a reliable account of his technique in1745: "He generally used sanguine on white PaPer, sothat he could make prints showing the subject fromboth sides; he seldom heightened his drawings withwhite, because the effect ofwhite was produced by thepaper background itself. Many of his drawings wereore in tnuo colors, in black chalk and sanguine or ingraphite and sanguine, using tones of red for the head,hands, and skin; sometimes he used'trois crayons,' andthen again he might use pastel, or oil paint, or gouache.Anything was acceptable to him - excePt for Pendrawings - if it would produce the effect he wanted.His hatchings were almost vertical, sometimesinclining slightly from right to left, or stumped andlightly washed with accentuating lines. "

These remarks are confirmed by examination of theextant drawings, though so far no pastel has come tolight, and only one oil smdy and one gouache. How-ever, in his late work V'atteau displays such virtuososkills in his use ofsanguine (red chalk) and black chalk- fo instance in the shades representing the dark,glowing skin of African faces - that he comes veryclose to the pastel technique' His meeting in 1720

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u'irh rhe famous Venetian p:rstel arisr RosalbaCirrrier may have given hin some ideas in this regard.However, pastel demandecl a larger formar rhan rheone \Watteau chose fbr his dr:rrvings, u,hich seldorncxceed 40 crn, rhoush in spite of this snall size heachieved srear f-ic{elity to life and expression in hisdrawn portrait heads.The suitability ofsansuine drarving for hancl prints,which enable a study to be used several rimcs, isprobablv not er)ough to explain farteau's prelerencefor this technique. The very e:rrliesr drawings, -om theperiod when he was still rvorking rvith Gillot, areexecuted in sanguine. It seems ro have been rhe likenessof the color to a flesh tone and rhe rather graint ellrectof the medirLn that appealed to him.

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His dislike of pen drau'ing, which Gillot usecl toeethetu,ith a rvash, is inrerestine. The firm, clear line of the pendrirrving does not secm to har.e appealed to him. Usirgsanguine, horvcver, he could conbine colored ,rrers rvirhlieht hatching. and easily create a transition f}om theclefining line to a painterl)'efIecr. In adclition, Vhtteauused r bmsh onlr.'occ;rsionallr,, rvith rnutecl toues, rndthen irlw:u's as an ingredient used sparingly in clrarvingin sarngrLine, or in sanguinc ancl black challi.-l he French rraclition ofthe portrait clrau,ing in blackchalk and sirnguine goes bacli to the e;rrly 1 6th cenruryand Jear Clotret (ca. 1480-1540141), sanquinc beinsrvell suited to the.lelicate indication offlesh tones.

At first \(atreau rvirs sparing in his use of bltrcli chlku,ith s:rnguinc, lut alout 1710 he beean to emplo'

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black chalk more energeticall and rwo or three yearslirter he was already drawing in the tois oayottstechnique, rningling sanguine and black chalk onrinted paper and heightening them wih white chalk.In subsequent years he developed a great mastery ofrhis method, with an asonishing wealth olvariations.Despite his very restricted range of subjects, 'Watteaunever lapses into mere routine work, but alwayssurprises the observer with new ideas.

The development of his genius can in fact be tracedrrore clearly in the drawings than the paintings.'I'he earl-iest loorvn drawings, from the tine when he was work-ing with Gillot, ae hesitant in execution, or pretend to adegree of skill they do not yet really have. In allegoricalsubjects, he rcproduced existing thenes. At the sametimc, howeve he was training himself to note downrvhat he observed, particularly ar fairs and the thcater; hismodels thcre dicl not pose for him, they werc fice.

Actors have to rnake larger-than-life gestures, so thatthey can le seen from a distance, and tVatteau's littleirgures do appear to have been drawn from some wayLrfl. Sornetimes they appear combined into groups andscenes in his studies, sometimes ranged side by side as ifin .r catalog, sometilnes in two rows.

He observed the puppeclike aspect of an actor'smovernent, and developed a facility fbr depicting his

figures with only a felv strokes, some firmly drawn orswiftly added, some far more delicate. Eyes, the jointsof limbs, and details of dress are indicated by dots,short strokes, or little hooks. The figures all have analert gaze, and the rhythmic lines give them a livelysparkle that is moderated by their statuary immobiliry.This easy and elegant manner obviously derived fiomdecorative painring, notable for the musicality of itsgraceful play oflines.'W'arteaut sryle of drawing had reached maturiryaround 1710, as witnessed by a study of pilgrims insanguine (ill. 92) fb the painting The Island of C1,theru(ill. 54). Here the atist had access to models whor hecould obseve extensively, and out-of-doos, to judgeby the way the shadows fll. He drew the pilgrimstriding out on the left ofthe study first - he appears tothe right of the painting, partly obscured. The shadowscast on his coar by his pelerine and left arm are clearlyshown. A fw strokes give a strongly expressive characterto his face, which is framed by tight curls. 'Watteaushows differenr textures offabric, for instance the fine,crurnpled silk ofthe man's kneebreeches. The cut ofthecoat is evident in a single line at the hips, and even thebutronholes are clearly visible. A real costume couldeasily be made from this drarving, which clearly showsthe artist's precise knowledge of fashion. But he has

93 fiuo Sudies ofa Ladl Sixixg on tbe Gtound, ca. 11 18Sanguine, 20.2 x 34.1 cmfu jkprentenkabinet, fu jksmuseum, AmsrerdamThe woman sitring on the ground must have beendrawn as a study for a fte galatte,btitwas not used inany ofthe known painrings. Obviously this was a studyto be kept for possible fuure use, unlike theThtee Pilgins(ill.92).

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:,,1.,7 ci. 1-15i;l:lk. nsh. ll.5 x Ii.l cm[)i:tsni < delle Srrmpe. Gailerie degli Uffizir:: ,.: rrL pr.or regio, and nranr Savoyards: : . ::'. -(\ 'h.rrJ.rnJ Jirt. iob,..::. :: :it,rr:i.

An inreresr in individual figures of striking andforeign appearance can be obsenecl as e;). asWatteatrt series of drau,inqs of cliplomats at the per.sianEnrbassv in Paris, done in 1711t115. In tlre case ofhisSavoyard cirry,ings. it hrs le.-n suegested rhrt thq-scre irrspircd lr rll, .lcl,icrions ol poor..rllLrr lLlliexecured b1. rhe Lc Nair brorhcrs (Antoine.1602-l6z18; Louis, 1616 1648: and N4athieu.1610-1677). Bur it is also possible iltar WtrreaLt ,asdruut to sucfi people because, like tem, he was irnoutsideri as a Fleming who u,as only on the fringes ofParis sociery nor ar irs center, he may have felt anunderstanding for other boderline figures.Another leature distinguishes the drawings of thePersians and Savoyards from the mass of rWatteautstudies: he drew these people for rhei own sake, notas part ofhis stock ofmaterial for paintings. Althoughhe did larer painr a single figure ofa Savoyard boy (ill.98), the picture merely confirms that this model wasan excePtion.The studies of black boys, also dating from aroundthe middle oF rhe decade, are rarher different. In allthree works, black men feature as servanrs. young andwell dressed, they featured as interesting examples ofexoticism in high sociery Such people somerimes alsoappeared as luxurious ad.juncts in portraits.In the famous drawing of three studies of the head of

a Negro boy (ill. 94), the way the atist draw his modelfrorn several angles indicates that his interest is not inthe individual but the rype. The study on rhe left wasdone first, and is a head and shoulders portrait; theboy's remote expression shows that he is obviouslyboed. Nex came the study top right, in which l/atteauwas placed slightly above his model, who is lookingboth attentively and skepticallv ro one side. Finall hegave the boy a cap and drew him again in profile, seenfrom just below, and emphasizing his full cheeks andchin. In all three studies Vatteau tried to reproduce theeffect of the boy's skin color with a mixture of blackchalk, rwo shades ofsanguine, and a gray wash. The capcovering the head in the study ar the botrom waspresumably chosen to avoid the presence of a dark areaat the center of the sheet, and to form a link with theclorhirre in rhe wo srudies above ir.The way the arrisr distanced himself from his sittersis particularly clear in many studies of women's heads,which, rhough brilliandy caught, seem to be viewedthrough a pane ofglass. Tatteau has come close to hismodels, but has nor let their personaliry ouch him.Heads looking forwad and appealing directly to theviewe are few. Jullienne remarked of his fricnd that hewas cool and indifferent to others, an impression thatcan be gleaned from a drawing showing eight srudies ofthe same woman wearing rwo different dresses (ill. 95).She is nor looking straighr ar the viewer in any ofthem. The firsr to be executed was the head in rightprofile, leaning slightly backward. The lighr falling inFrom rhe left illuminares the rip ofher nose but leavesher face in shadow. The arisr seems to have paid mostattention to her hairsryle and her ear, a Feature onwhich he also rvorked carefully in other studies. Nexr

Wtteiru drew her orhcr profilc. ,,, i :rurned to eirch othe. thotrgh thcr. (illri .: -Belou'is a slightly snr,lllcr virr;.rr or rhis rsirion: rhcbocly is ruured fbrlarcl, but rh., hcacl is rtrne.l ,rr..,rl, roor)( \iLlr. \\,lrtcrl tllc.r.lrcrr Iltc rrorrr.1 li,.,,,r,...timcs in a different drt-ss s,itir a ruftlc,cl collar. Theprofiles rop right, looking in oprosite clirccrions, areparriculiull curious, ,ith their hair arl coll:rntouching, and w.ith t rottch of htunor re ar.rrr rsadded the heac{ of a nlan ro rhe eight stuclies of thewoman, to fill rhc rcmaininq errpr), srrcc. Of thevarious costurnes worn by Watteru\ rnoclels, Cr,lustells us: "He had ga/ant clothes, sonre of rhem sragecostumes, in which he rvould clress the pcrsons ofbothsexes who modeled for him, and u,horr he rainted inthe attitudes that nature sugsesred to him, preltrringsimple poses ro any orhers."'Watteau's pleasure in depictins the lavish fblds ofvoluminous female dress, a constirnrlv recurring motifin his paintines, is also evident in a latc srnguinc sttrcll,showing thc same woman iu rhc s:lnrc trirurlc fromboth in front and behind (ill.93). \fe cen tell thrr hewent around ro her orher side by the u,ay the liehr f.illsfrom the right in the fronr vicrv and thc left in rhc backview. In the firsr study the niodel's charming head. seenin profile, and her lively hands are important features;in the second, however, the line of the folds drawnswiftly and energerically by rhe artist, observing the cutof the dress, are the almos exclusive souce of interesr.'We guess at the body benearh the gown in an attitudethat contrasts markedly with gownt elegance. Thestudies could have been used fbr a picture of agathering in the open air, but do not occrLr in anypainting. Fom the srart Varreau rnusr have intendedto give the drawing a pleasing balance.The atmosphere in which so lively a drawing wasdone can be imagined om a commenr on \latteau by

Caylus: "He spent mosr of his tine in a feu'rooms Ikept in different quarters of Paris, and which served usfor the painting and drawing of models. Here,dedicated to arr alone and free fi.om all distractions, heand I, with a murual friend of similar inclinations,experienced the purejoy ofyouth and rhc livcly porverof the imagination, both of them alwavs at one withthe enchanted spell cast on us by painting."]n these surroundings \flatteau rlso drew nudestudies, but he very seldom used them in his paintings.The chaise longue on which the won.ran feeling her leftfoot is sitting (ill. 91) occurs in several drawings offemale nudes. Not only does her physical attitude, withher arms deliberarely brought together and her left legraised, remind one of the lare Diana Bathing (rll. 115),but her delicate head is very like Dianat, and rve mayassume that the same model was used. The girl's dress,drawn in black chalk, lies between her arms and herbody and is lalling alvay ro rhe left. Only the detail ofrhe right fbot drawn in sanguine emerges below,echoing the red collar ofhe dress ro rhe rop right. Thecontours of her body rre clraxr very strongl incontrast to rhe softer modeling of the interior part, afeature that again clearly shows Antoine Wareau's

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