The four large oval paintings of the Seasons commissioned by Pierre Crozat (1665–1740) for his Paris dining room constitute rare examples of mythological subjects in Watteau's oeuvre. The painting Autumn, known today only through engravings, depicted a standing satyr pouring wine for a seated Bacchus. This sheet is one of two known studies (the other is in the Courtauld Institute Galleries, London) for the figure of the standing satyr. The New York drawing must have been the earliest, made before Watteau decided to bend the satyr's pouring arm to better suit the oval format. Red, black, and white chalk are intuitively combined to produce the appropriately ruddy flesh tones of the satyr.
This artwork is meant to be viewed from right to left. Scroll left to view more.
Artwork Details
Use your arrow keys to navigate the tabs below, and your tab key to choose an item
Vassal de Saint-Hubert , his sale, Paris, March 23 - April 17, 1779, possibly part of lot 94: "deux bons dessins, à la pierre noire et à la sanguine, sur papier blanc, représentants deux hommes nuds, dont un tient deux bouteilles, hauteur 10 pouces 3 lignes, largeur 8 pouces 3 lignes."; Felix Harbord , according to Virch.; Mrs. H. D. Gronau; Walter C. Baker (American)
Rotterdam. Museum Boymans. "Van Clouet tot Matisse, Tentoonstelling van franse tekeningen uit amerikaanse collecties," July 31–September 28, 1958.
Paris. Musée de l'Orangerie. "De Clouet à Matisse, dessins français des collections américaines," October–November 1958.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "French Drawings from American Collections: Clouet to Matisse," February 3–March 15, 1959.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "The Walter C. Baker Collection of Drawings," June 2–September 4, 1960.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "French Drawings Recently Acquired, 1975-1984," November 27, 1984–February 10, 1985.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Eighteenth-Century French Drawings in New York Collections," February 3–April 25, 1999.
Royal Academy of Arts. "Antoine Watteau: The Drawings," March 12, 2011–June 5, 2011.
Bean and Turcic 1986.329; Rosenberg and Prat 1996.373.
Catalogue of an exhibition of French master drawings of the 18th century, held for the benefit of the French Hospital and dispensary, London. Matthiesen Gallery, London, 1950, cat. no. 106.
Drawings by Old Masters. Exh. cat. London: The Royal Academy of Arts, Diploma Gallery. London: Royal Academy of Arts, 1953, cat. no. 394, p. 92.
Karl Theodore Parker, Jacques Mathey Antoine Watteau: Catalogue complet de son oeuvre dessiné. Paris, 1957, cat. no. 578, p. 74, ill.
French Drawings from American Collections: Clouet to Matisse A Special Loan Exhibition, February 3–March 15, 1959. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1959, cat. no. 85, pl. 33.
Claus Virch "The Walter C. Baker Collection of Master Drawings." in The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, vol. 18, no. 10, New York, June 1960, p. 315.
A. Hyatt Mayor, Daniel Wildenstein Centennial Loan Exhibition, Drawings and Watercolors from Alumnae and Their Families. Exh. cat. Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, NY, 1961, cat. no. 51, n.p., ill.
Claus Virch Master Drawings in the Collection of Walter C. Baker. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1962, cat. no. 73, p. 43, ill.
Jacob Bean Great Private Collections. Douglas Cooper, Macmillan & Co., New York, 1963, p. 35, ill.
Malcolm Cormack The Drawings of Watteau. London, New York, 1970, fig. no. pl. 42, p. 28.
Jacob Bean Notable Acquisitions, 1979-1980: Drawings (Walter C. Baker Collection, and other sources). The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1980, p. 48, ill.
Margaret Morgan Grasselli, Pierre Rosenberg Watteau, 1684-1721. Ex. cat. National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C., Washington, 1984, cat. no. D64, p. 132, ill.
Donald Posner Antoine Watteau. Ithaca, New York, 1984, pp. 80, 283.
Jacob Bean, Lawrence Turčić 15th-18th Century French Drawings in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1986, cat. no. 329, pp. 292-293, ill.
Pierre Rosenberg, Louis-Antoine Prat Antoine Watteau 1684-1721: Catalogue raisonné des dessins. Milan, 1996, cat. no. 373, p. 614, ill.
Perrin Stein, Mary Tavener Holmes Eighteenth-Century French Drawings in New York Collections Exh. cat. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1999, cat. no. 4, pp. 8-10, ill.
The Met's Libraries and Research Centers provide unparalleled resources for research and welcome an international community of students and scholars.
The Met Collection API is where all makers, creators, researchers, and dreamers can connect to the most up-to-date data and public domain images for The Met collection. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.
Feedback
We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. If you have comments or questions about this object record, please complete and submit this form. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments.
The Met's collection of drawings and prints—one of the most comprehensive and distinguished of its kind in the world—began with a gift of 670 works from Cornelius Vanderbilt, a Museum trustee, in 1880.