Works on Paper 2019 - Jean Luc Baroni

the title of Figures des différents caractères de
paysages et d’études dessinées d’après nature par
Antoine Watteau, tirés des plus beaux cabinets de
Paris. The volumes were published between 1726
and 1728 and contained over 350 prints engraved
by fifteen artists, including the young François
Boucher, to whom we owe the engraving after the
present drawing (Fig. 3). This publication in some
way establishes the primacy of Watteau’s graphic
genius over painting: although, according to
Mariette, “he produced only those made as studies
for his paintings [thus] he invented them and then
transferred them to canvas” 8 , “each figure created
by the hand of this excellent man is so true and so
natural that it can catch the attention all alone and
does not need to be supported by the composition
of a larger subject” 9 . This comment perfectly
applies to the present sheet.
A. Watteau, Study of a Man in Profile Wearing
a Lopsided Cap.
partner, concealed by the shadow of the vegetation,
he seems to be about to turn away, leaning to his
left, as if captivated by the main scene. As the scale
of the figure in the drawing is larger than in the
painting, this impression is even more vivid. The
spectator’s eye first rests on the ear; firmly rendered
in red chalk, it emphasises the importance of the
character’s hearing, which compensates for his
sight, enabling him to capture the part of the scene
that he cannot see.
In his lifetime, Watteau consistently refused to
sell his drawings and only on his deathbed did he
bequeath some of them to his friend and pupil count
de Caylus and to his patron Pierre Crozat. Others
upon his death were divided amongst his small
circle of close admirers, particularly including the
manufacturer and great art lover Jean de Julienne,
who owned many of the sheets and who had them
engraved and published in two volumes under
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