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Galerie Dreyfus
68
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JEAN-BAPTISTE PATER (VALENCIENNES, 1695 – PARIS, 1736)
The C…
See original version (French)
68
-
JEAN-BAPTISTE PATER (VALENCIENNES, 1695 – PARIS, 1736)
The C…
See original version (French)
Estimate €160,000 - €200,000
Voluntary lot
Description
JEAN-BAPTISTE PATER
(VALENCIENNES, 1695 – PARIS, 1736)
The Country Concert and The Rose-Picking
c. 1725
Oils on canvas (a pair)
52 x 65.4 cm.
René Millet Expertise Certificate
These two paintings, identical in size and with complementary compositions, were
conceived as a pair. At first glance, they appear perfectly symmetrical.
In the shade of a cluster of trees, the same number of figures – seven – are arranged
around a central couple, seated in the centre of the composition. Painted in reverse on
each canvas, the setting in which our figures move depicts a rural landscape with a
village on the horizon; then, closer to the viewer and off-centre, this cluster of trees, slightly
overhanging, which provides a resting place for these elegant walkers. In contrast, the very foreground,
a dirt track, is left empty save for the few props that give the
painting its title: a musical score here, a basket of flowers there. The viewer, thus kept at a distance, is
immediately informed of the subject of each scene depicted. Nevertheless, the aim here, notwithstanding
the titles, is to depict romantic scenes between pairs of aristocrats who have gone out to enjoy themselves in
the countryside. And our two counterparts thus seem to engage in a dialogue. Alongside the constant elements—
the two couples in each scene—there are secondary characters, mostly
children, who move about the protagonists with varying degrees of complicity or
indifference. Thus, this little girl is sometimes in the arms of her elder sister, sometimes venturing out to
pick flowers on the other side of the path.
The courting couples, for their part, respond to one another subtly from one painting to the next. Their
attire, ill-suited to the circumstances and surroundings, reinforces this impression of carefree
behaviour, or even incongruity. The woman sumptuously dressed in a French-style silk taffeta
gown in *Concert champêtre* finds her counterpart—slightly more rustic—in *Cueillette
des roses*, wearing an apron tied around her waist. Objects of every desire, they catch the eye
in their sparkling, iridescent pink and white finery. Their companions,
eagerly at their sides, provide a striking contrast in their red
actors’ costumes. One plays the guitar whilst the other is content simply to whisper sweet nothings… We
are still in the early stages. The other two couples, standing back a little, are already entwined. One
with their backs to us, the other facing us, they reveal to us the next stage in this
romantic relationship. Here, the painter plays with their mirrored poses as if they were the
same couple. The young women’s emerald-green taffeta skirts are identical, as
are their lovers’ brown jackets, further reinforcing the illusion of a single
scene unfolding from one painting to the next. This atmosphere of bucolic romance
unfolds under the watchful eye of little cherubs hovering above the figures. Depicted in
the form of sculptures one might find in a park, these putti reveal, if any further proof were needed,
the true subject of these paintings. A common motif in this genre of painting, their
presence in the open countryside, far from being merely anecdotal, takes on allegorical overtones, which are
also found, notably, in the work of his contemporary Lancret.
See original version (French)
Auto-translation. Refer to original language for legal validity.
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
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