Subjects of 18th-Century French Paintings

By Rococo Artist Antoine Watteau & Neoclassicist Jacques-Louis David

Aug 3, 2008

What are the subjects doing in the paintings of these French artists and where can visitors see these paintings today?

Q. What are the men on the left of Antoine Watteau’s painting “Gersaint’s Signboard” (1720) doing?

A. Packing (or unpacking) pictures.

In “Enseigne de Gersaint” (Gersaint’s Signboard), French rococo artist Jean-Antoine Watteau (1684-1721) painted his last great work, depicting the interior of the shop of his friend, E.F. Gersaint, a Parisian art dealer.

In the heyday of French art galleries of the 1700s, a signboard would effectively promote a dealer’s selection of artworks for sale. A signboard was not simply, however, a wooden marquee declaring the name of the art gallery, but was instead a canvas painting hung outside underneath the sign actually bearing the name of the gallery. Although the interior displayed in Watteau’s painting does not depict his colleague’s actual gallery, it effectively captures the upper-class clientele and thriving trade that made the art dealer an important part of the French art market of the time.

Watteau’s “Gersaint’s Signboard” is a lively composition depicting an active enterprise populated by twelve different figures and a poodle. Gersaint himself wrote that the painting had been “done from nature… the attitudes so truthful and easy, the arrangement so natural and the grouping so well understood that it caught the eye of passers-by, and skilful painters came several times to admire it.”

In 1720 Watteau, suffering from tuberculosis, had moved in with Gersaint. The painting, intended merely as a signboard, became the most classical and perfectly composed of his paintings and thus his most significant work. Watteau’s health continued to fail, and he died the following year. Paintings in the rococo style of Watteau fell out of favor in the late 1700s and his work was not appreciated again until the mid-1800s.

Q. What is the central figure in Jacques-Louis David’s “Oath of the Horatii” (1784) doing?

A. Holding up the swords he is about to give to his triplet sons.

The French neoclassical work “Oath of the Horatii” of Jacques-Louis David (1748-1825) shows a patriarchal scene of three Horatii brothers on the left, the father in the center displaying a Roman salute, and the sister and wives on the right, shown weeping. The Roman Horatii, according to legend, were male triplets destined to wage war and settle disputes. The only emotion shown in the painting is from the women, who were allowed to openly show their feelings, while the men were expected to fulfill their manly duties with stoicism.

As the French Revolution loomed, patriotic paintings like David’s “Oath of the Horatii” became extremely popular. This painting enhanced David's reputation and achieved a status as the defining image of the time. His fame afforded him the opportunity to tutor his own students. Eventually David had a large number of pupils, making him a strong influence on French art of the 19th century, especially the academic style popular with the Salon.

The copyright of the article Subjects of 18th-Century French Paintings in 18th Century Art is owned by Suzanne Hill. Permission to republish Subjects of 18th-Century French Paintings in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.