id: 166522
accession number: 2008.3
share license status: CC0
url: https://clevelandart.org/art/2008.3
updated: 2019-06-05 09:45:14.750000
The Clothes are Italian, 1715-1716. Jean Antoine Watteau (French, 1684-1721). Etching; sheet: 30 x 20.9 cm (11 13/16 x 8 1/4 in.); image: 27.5 x 20 cm (10 13/16 x 7 7/8 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Severance and Greta Millikin Purchase Fund 2008.3
title: The Clothes are Italian
title in original language:
series:
series in original language:
creation date: 1715-1716
creation date earliest: 1715
creation date latest: 1716
current location:
creditline: Severance and Greta Millikin Purchase Fund
copyright:
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culture: France, 18th century
technique: etching
department: Prints
collection: PR - Etching
type: Print
find spot:
catalogue raisonne: Dacier and Vuaflart 130
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CREATORS
* Jean Antoine Watteau (French, 1684-1721) - artist
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measurements: Sheet: 30 x 20.9 cm (11 13/16 x 8 1/4 in.); Image: 27.5 x 20 cm (10 13/16 x 7 7/8 in.)
state of the work: I/VI
edition of the work:
support materials:
description: sturdy weight antique laid paper
watermarks:
inscriptions:
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CURRENT EXHIBITIONS
title: Artists and Amateurs: Etching in Eighteenth Century France
opening date: 2013-10-01T00:00:00
Artists and Amateurs: Etching in Eighteenth Century France. The Metropolitan Museum of Art (organizer) (October 1, 2013-January 5, 2014).
title: Elegance and Intrigue: French Society in 18th-century Prints and Drawings
opening date: 2016-07-16T04:00:00
Elegance and Intrigue: French Society in 18th-century Prints and Drawings. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer).
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LEGACY EXHIBITIONS
* The Metropolitan Museum of Art, NYC (10/1/2013 - 1/5/2014): "Artists and Amateurs: Etching in Eighteenth Century France"
The Cleveland Museum of Art (07/16/2016-11/06/2016); Elegance and Intrigue: French Society in 18th-century Prints and Drawings.
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PROVENANCE
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fun fact:
digital description:
wall description:
Dressed as stock characters of the Italian commedia dell’arte, an improvisational form of comic theatre, five performers gather beside the curtain of a stage with a garden backdrop. Columbine stands in the center next to Pierrot, who has especially long sleeves and a broad, round collar. Harlequin offers a glimpse of his diamond-pattern coat as he peers over Columbine’s shoulder at the audience. Primarily a painter, Watteau made very few etchings, and this impression of The Clothes Are Italian is very rare. Before the print was published, Charles Simonneau, a professional engraver, heavily reworked the image, ruining the spontaneity of Watteau’s etching. Fortunately, three surviving examples preserve his original, in which shimmering parallel lines bask the performers in an ethereal light.
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RELATED WORKS
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CITATIONS
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IMAGES
web: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/2008.3/2008.3_web.jpg
print: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/2008.3/2008.3_print.jpg
full: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/2008.3/2008.3_full.tif