Amid the trees, a group of villagers play music while a couple dances. A toddler copies the lady's motions, entertaining the company. Rather than the usual contemporary association with debauchery, music here alludes to social harmony and order. The musicians glance coyly at the viewer, actors very aware of their spectators. This sort of interaction is one of Watteau's hallmarks.[1]
It is an image of visual extremes: the dark forest background brings the peasants' bright clothing into sharp contrast. The rustic setting and the dancers' formal attire channel both the fête galante and a formal court celebration transplanted to a charming bit of countryside.[2]
Historical information
This is Watteau's earliest known painting, but already he had developed his own style. Painted shortly after he moved from Valenciennes to Paris, Watteau took the merry rustic scenes favored by his Flemish antecedents like Pieter Bruegel and Peter Paul Rubens, but gave them unprecedented grace, nobility, and style. Though painting a standard northern European subject, he drew heavily on Venetian landscapes, particularly in the atmospheric effects. It is, in effect, a declaration in favor of the Rococo movement with which Watteau would become so heavily associated.[3]
Acquisition
The Country Dance was acquired by the IMA in 1974, a gift of Mrs. Herman C. Krannert. It hangs in the Charles O. McGaughey Gallery and has the accession number 74.98.[3]
Adhémar, Hélène (1950). Watteau; sa vie, son oeuvre (in French). Includes "L’univers de Watteau", an introduction by René Huyghe. Paris: P. Tisné. cat. no. 4. OCLC853537.
Mathey, Jacques (1959). Antoine Watteau. Peintures réapparues inconnues ou négligées par les historiens (in French). Paris: F. de Nobele. p. 66. OCLC954214682.
Posner, Donald (1983–1984). "Antoine Watteau's Country Dance". Perceptions. 3: 27–31.
Roland Michel, Marianne. Watteau: Tutti I Dipinti. I Maestri (in Italian). Vol. 19. Translated from the French by Marina Anzil Robertini. Milano: Rizzoli. cat. no. 5. OCLC48636176. OCLC801077589. Published in French as Tout Watteau. La Peinture. Paris: Flammarion. 1982. ISBN2-08-012226-6. OCLC490060827.
Wyngaard, Amy S. (2004). From Savage to Citizen: The Invention of the Peasant in the French Enlightenment. Newark: University of Delaware Press. pp. 63–64. ISBN0-87413-853-1. OCLC1151830852.
Eidelberg, Martin (November 2019). "La Danse champestre". A Watteau Abecedario. Archived from the original on October 17, 2020. Retrieved October 17, 2020.
