Getty acquires new Watteau discovery
March 16 2012
Picture: Getty Museum
Exciting news from Los Angeles, where the Getty has acquired the above picture by Watteau, The Italian Comedians. There is, however, a twist. Not everyone agrees it is by Watteau. From the LA Times:
Depending on which expert you ask, it is either a rare large canvas by one of France's greatest artists, Jean-Antoine Watteau, or the work of somebody else.
Scott Schaefer, the Getty's senior curator of paintings, said that before deciding about a month ago to buy the oil painting from a London art dealer, museum leaders sought opinions from "almost all major Watteau scholars in the world," each of whom had seen the painting in person.
The vote was 7-3 in favor of it being either solely by Watteau, who was 36 when he died in 1721, or a canvas the master had left unfinished, to be completed by another hand — possibly his student, Jean-Baptiste Pater, to whom the painting was sometimes attributed during the 20th century.
"It's so emotionally engaging that, for us, it can only be by Watteau," Schaefer said from Maastricht, the Netherlands, where he was attending the annual European Fine Art Fair.
The doubters, he said, did not say who they believed had painted the piece, which is 3 feet wide and slightly more than 4 feet tall. "But everyone, including the naysayers, thought it was a magnificent picture."
As revealed on AHN here at the time, the picture came up at auction last year in France, where it was catalogued as 'Circle of Watteau', and with an estimate of EUR40-60,000. The picture was enticingly catalogued, with plenty of supporting evidence to suggest the picture was by Watteau, such as preparatory drawings by him. I remember thinking it looked like a very fine picture, but that other specialist dealers who knew more than I do about French painting were sure to bid on it. And lo, it made a hammer price of EUR 1 million. You can watch a video of it selling here. Although I haven't seen the picture in the flesh, I don't doubt that the Getty wouldn't have bought it unless they and others were absolutely sure it was by Watteau. So many congratulations to them, and to the London dealer who bought it. It's always good to see the art trade contributing to art history with important discoveries like this.
More details on the Getty site here.
