Seated Woman

One of the most brilliant and innovative draftsmen of the eighteenth century, Watteau was an early exponent of the "trois-crayons" or "three-chalk" technique, which allowed his drawings to approach the rich coloristic effects of painting. This fetching study of a seated woman is a consummate example of his mastery of the technique. Freely mixing red, black, and white chalk, he captured the young woman's loosely pinned-up hair, luminous flesh tones, and the sheen of her dress. The Lehman sheet is not known to be a preparatory study for a painting, but the model does reappear in at least one other drawing by the artist. Her gesture is not easily understood, although her elegance and charming lack of self-consciousness come through clearly.