The Embarkation for Cythera ("L'embarquement pour Cythère") is a painting by the French painter Jean-Antoine Watteau.
It is also known as Voyage to Cythera and Pilgrimage to the Isle of Cythera.[1] Watteau submitted this work to the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture as his reception piece in 1717.[2] The painting is now in the Louvre, Paris. A second version of the work, sometimes called Pilgrimage to Cythera to distinguish it, was painted by Watteau about 1718 or 1719[3] and is in the Charlottenburg Palace, Berlin. These elaborated a much simpler depiction painted by Watteau in 1709 or 1710, which is now in Frankfurt.
YouTube Encyclopedic
-
1/2Views:93 5536 929
-
Antoine Watteau, Pilgrimage to Cythera
-
Embarkation for Cythera by Jean-Antoine Watteau
Transcription
(bouncy piano music) >> We're in the Louvre in Paris and we're looking at of the great 18th Century French paintings, Pilgrimage to Cythera by Watteau. >> Here we are looking at a Rococo painting and the main subjects of Rococo paintings were the lifestyle of the aristocracy. >> Well we certainly have that. Cythera is an island in Greece and it was believed, perhaps, to be the birth place of the goddess Aphrodite. >> Cythera is an island that was mythically associated with the goddess of love. >> Look, the sculpture of her has Cupid's bow tied around it and we have a vine of roses growing up it. You can't miss the connotations of love here. >> No and there's a little Cupid sitting below that. He's got his quiver on the ground, as though he doesn't really need to do anything here because love is all around him already. >> He seems to be tugging ever so gently on the skirt of the young woman who sits there so coyly. >> As though he's urging her to fall in love and of course her male companion seems to be doing the same thing, but she looks down rather demurely. >> It's a bit of a conspiracy, isn't it? I'm not sure that she stands a chance. >> As you follow the couples as they head down the bank toward the boat that is either going to take them away from Cythera or to Cythera... >> It should say that the art historians have been arguing this point for quite some time. >> You can see that the couples get closer and closer toward a state of intimacy. >> Oh, that's right. When you look at the figures that are down below in the middle of the painting, you see the woman who holds the man's arm of her own volition. She doesn't need to be coaxed any longer. I see this progression of figures almost as a dance. Look at the way the hands are together as it would be in a formal dance of the 18th Century. You can see the prow of the ship with a beautifully carved nude woman and above that, what is presumably in Cupid, there is a red silk cloth that drapes the entire prow. We see garlands of flowers and then you can see the oarsmen of the boat. They're ready to take these couples either to or from Cythera. I tend to think that they're going to Cythera because Watteau has made an effort to show us a destination. We see a dark outline and presumably that is the island of Cythera. >> You can see the little Puti that lead our eye back into that distance with that torch, right above that island in the distance. On the other hand, there is that herm, that sculpture of Aphrodite, that suggests that this island that we're seeing now is itself Cythera, the island of love, and that the figures are nostalgically sadly getting ready to leave. >> That's entirely possible, but I think it's also possible that it's both. That this is a painting that is about ambiguity and should not be read as a literal narrative. >> I think you're right. Love here is represented as a dance where couple take various positions in relationship to one another, sometimes moving in opposing directions, sometimes moving together, sometimes one pulls another toward them. We know that Watteau was influenced by opera and by plays so maybe we're seeing some aspect of that here. >> It's also important to remember that this was painted to be the reception piece for Watteau to be included in the Royal Academy of Art and it's intended audience as an aristocratic one, one that was used to formal dance. >> This is a new type of painting called the fete galante, an outdoor entertainment for the aristocracy. >> Interestingly, Watteau was a bit late getting this to the Academy and that was because of private commissions that intervened, but when it was accepted there was no category for the fete galante. But the painting was seen as so important that they created a new category so that it could be accepted and this was rather revolutionary, especially considering that the Academy was strongly divided between two camps, the followers of the artist Reubens and the followers of the French artist Poussin. >> That is a division between artists who adhere to a philosophy that says line is most important in painting, that clear outlines and internal modeling and that sense of finish were you don't see the brush work is most important versus the Reubenists, the followers of Reubens, who believe that color was most important and it's so clear when you look at the luscious colors here that Watteau was an adherent to the Reubenist ideas. >> There's no question that the Rubeunists carried the day at this point. >> Absolutely and here you can see that the outlines are soft, figures merge a little bit into the background. They have lovely passages where we can see the hand of the artist. This is something that is very typical of Baroque Art with Reubens and also here in Rococo Art with Watteau. >> This a period that we call the Rococo and it is the Enciene Regime that is it is the last century the nobility will rule France. >> The nobility, they were all family, were less than a century away from the French Revolution which will of course annihilate this way of life literally and usher is what we, in many ways, consider the modern world. >> Here we see an image of the aristocracy at play, of this fantasy of the world they had created for themselves, but here within a fantastical setting. (bouncy piano music)
Subject
The painting portrays a "fête galante"; an amorous celebration or party enjoyed by the aristocracy of France after the death of Louis XIV, which is generally seen as a period of dissipation and pleasure, and peace, after the sombre last years of the previous reign.
The work celebrates love, with many cupids flying around the couples and pushing them closer together, as well as the statue of Venus (the goddess of love). There are three pairs of lovers in the foreground. While the couple on the right by the statue are still engaged in their passionate tryst, another couple rises to follow a third pair down the hill, although the woman of the third pair glances back fondly at the goddess’s sacred grove. At the foot of the hill, several more happy couples are preparing to board the golden boat at the left. With its light and wispy brushstrokes, the hazy landscape in the background does not give to any clues about the season, or whether it is dawn or dusk.
It has often been noted that, despite the title, the people on the island seem to be leaving rather than arriving, especially since they have already paired up. Many art historians have come up with a variety of interpretations of the allegory of the voyage to the island of love. Watteau himself purposely did not give an answer.
In the ancient world, Cythera, one of the Greek islands, was thought to be the birthplace of Venus, goddess of love. Thus, the island became sacred to the goddess and love. However, the subject of Cythera may have been inspired by certain 17th century operas or an illustration of a minor play. In Florent Carton (Dancourt)'s Les Trois Cousines (The Three Cousins), a girl dressed as a pilgrim steps out from the chorus line and invites the audience to join her on a voyage to the island, where everyone will meet their ideal partner. Watteau's Actors of the Comédie-Française (c. 1711 or later) is now thought to contain portraits of a cast for this play.
History
It was around 1710 that Watteau painted his first, more literal version of the subject, which nonetheless bears a compositional similarity to the Louvre painting. This work is now in the Städtische Galerie im Städelschen Kunstinstitut, Frankfurt-am-Main.
When Watteau was accepted as a member of the Academy in 1714, he was expected to present the customary reception piece. Although he was given unusual freedom in choosing a subject for his painting, his failure to submit a work brought several reprimands.[4] Meanwhile, Watteau worked on numerous private commissions that his rising reputation brought him. Finally, in January 1717, the Academy called Watteau to task, and in August of that year he presented his painting, which had been painted quickly in the preceding eight months.[5]
The painting caused the Academy to invent a new classification for it, since the subject was so striking and new. This resulted in the fête galantes (elegant fêtes or outdoor entertainments), a genre subsequently practiced by imitators of Watteau, such as Jean-Baptiste Pater and Nicolas Lancret. While the creation of the new category acknowledged Watteau as the originator of the genre, it also prevented him being recognised as history painter, the highest class of painter, and the only one from which the academy's professors were drawn. Charles-Antoine Coypel, the son of its then director, later said: "The charming paintings of this gracious painter would be a bad guide for whoever wished to paint the Acts of the Apostles."[6][7]
Popularity
In years after Watteau’s death, his art fell out of fashion. During the French Revolution, some eighty years after the work was painted, his depictions of lavishly set pastoral escapades were associated with the old days of the monarchy and a frivolous aristocracy. This particular piece, which had entered the collection of the Louvre in 1795, was used by art students for target practice; an account by Pierre-Nolasque Bergeret (1782–1863) describes the drawing students throwing bread pellets at it.[8][9] In the early 19th century the curator at the Louvre was forced to place it in storage until 1816 in order to protect the painting from angry protesters. It was not until the 1830s that Watteau and the Rococo returned into fashion.
Derivative works
In 1904 Claude Debussy wrote a piece for solo piano titled "L'isle joyeuse", which may have been inspired by the painting; the colorful and brilliant piano writing depicts the ecstasy of the lovers.[10] Four decades later, Debussy's compatriot Francis Poulenc wrote a lively piece for two pianos which took the name of the painting for its title, "L'Embarquement pour Cythere".
On screen
''Les secrets de la fête galante. Le pèlerinage à l'île de Cythère, film by Alain Jaubert from Palettes series (1995).
References
- ^ In 2022 the Louvre used the last (Le Pèlerinage à l'île de Cythère) for its painting.
- ^ Humphrey Wine and Annie Scottez-De Wambrechies. "Watteau" in Grove Art Online. oxfordartonline.com Oxford University Press. Retrieved 8 February 2014.
- ^ Getlein, Mark (2005). Gilbert's living with art (7th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill. p. 87. ISBN 0072859342.
- ^ Grasselli et al. 1984, p. 396.
- ^ Grasselli et al. 1984, pp. 398–399.
- ^ Coypel, Charles Antoine (1732). Discours sur la peinture, prononcez dans les conférences de l'Académie Royale de peinture et sculpture (in French). Paris: P. J. Mariette. p. 14.
Wateau eut trouvé dans le Vatican peu d'études à faire convenables à son genre particulier, & les tableaux charmans de ce gracieux peintre guideroient mal quiconque voudroit peindre les Actes des Apôtres.
- ^ Wine, Humphrey; Scottez-De Wambrechies, Annie (1996). "Watteau". In Turner, Jane (ed.). The Dictionary of Art. Vol. 32. New York: Grove's Dictionaries. pp. 913–921. ISBN 1-884446-00-0 – via the Internet Archive. Also available via Oxford Art Online (subscription needed).
- ^ Bergeret, Pierre-Nolasque (1848). Lettres d'un artist... Paris: Chez l'auteur. p. 334 – via the Internet Archive.
- ^ Grasselli et al. 1984, pp. 397–398.
- ^ Schmitz, E. Robert (1950), The Piano Works of Claude Debussy, Toronto: Dover, p. 94, LCCN 66-20423
Further reading
- Camesasca, Ettore, ed. (1971). The Complete Paintings of Watteau. Classics of the World's Great Art. Introduction by John Sunderland. New York: Harry N. Abrams. pp. 116–117, 120. ISBN 0810955253. OCLC 143069 – via the Internet Archive. Cat. nos. 168, 185.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: postscript (link) - Cowart, Georgia (September 2001). "Watteau's "Pilgrimage to Cythera" and the Subversive Utopia of the Opera-Ballet". The Art Bulletin. 83 (3): 461–478. doi:10.2307/3177238. JSTOR 3177238.
- Eidelberg, Martin (July 2021). "Le Pèlerinage à l'isle de Cythère". A Watteau Abecedario. Archived from the original on July 5, 2021. Retrieved July 6, 2021.
- Grasselli, Margaret Morgan; Rosenberg, Pierre & Paramantier, Nicole (1984). Watteau, 1684–1721 ; National Gallery of Art, June 17–September 23, 1984; Galeries Nationales du Grand Palais, Paris, October 23, 1984–January 28, 1985; Schloss Charlottenburg, Berlin, February 22–May 26, 1985. Washington: National Gallery of Art. ISBN 0-89468-074-9. OCLC 557740787 – via the National Gallery of Art archive.
- d’Harcourt, Claire (2004). Masterpieces Up Close: Western Painting from the 14th to 20th Centuries. San Francisco: Chronicle. pp. 30–31, 36–37.
- Janson, H. W.; Janson, Anthony F. (2004). History of Art: The Western Tradition (revised 6th ed.). New Jersey: Pearson-Prentice Hall. pp. 626–627.
- Levey, Michael (May 1961). "The Real Theme of Watteau's Embarkation for Cythera". The Burlington Magazine. 103 (698): 180–185. JSTOR 873302.
- Mosbey, Dewey F. (Spring 1974). "Claude Gillot's "Embarkation for the Isle of Cythera" and Its Relationship to Watteau". Master Drawings. 12 (1): 49–56, 102–103. JSTOR 1553223.
- Walther, Ingo F., ed. (1999). Masterpieces of Western Art: A History of Art in 900 Individual Studies from the Gothic to the Present Day. Cologne, London et al.: Taschen. p. 349. ISBN 3-8228-7031-5 – via the Internet Archive.
- Zaczek, Iain (2006). "The Pilgrimage to Cythera". In Farthing, Stephen (ed.). 1001 Paintings You Must See Before You Die. London: Quintet. p. 292.
- Zeri, Federico (2000) [first published in Italian in 1998]. Watteau: The Embarkment for Cythera. One Hundred Paintings. Richmond Hill, Ontario: NDE Pub. ISBN 1553210182. OCLC 48003550 – via the Internet Archive.
External links
- Embarkation for Cythera story, theme and analysis
- Louvre: Pilgrimage to Cythera
- Web Gallery of Art: Pilgrimage to Cythera