Antoine Watteau, 1684-1721

This volume serves as a scholarly monograph dedicated to the work of Antoine Watteau, the French Rococo painter credited with reviving interest in the fête galante genre. Published in 1996 by Art Books International, the work was compiled to provide a comprehensive visual and analytical survey of Watteau's brief but influential career, capturing the melancholic elegance and theatricality that defined his small-scale, atmospheric canvases.

The book utilizes a classic art-historical format, balancing high-quality reproductions of masterpieces such as Embarkation for Cythera with critical essays examining the technical nuances of his drawing style and the social climate of early 18th-century Paris. It was intended for both academic study and the general art enthusiast, reflecting a period in the mid-1990s when publishers sought to standardize accessible, well-researched monographs on Old Masters for the growing global museum-going audience.