Watteau’s The Collation or Lunch in the Open (1710-1720s c.) is intimate and picnicky. Among his works, it is the most like a déjeuner sur l’herbe, except for his hunt luncheon subjects. As usual, for the French, the subject is not referred to as un pique-nique, though the word was used for indoor dining.
The couples casually engage in conversation, enjoying an alfresco meal. The position of the couples and the ease of their postures indicate this is a private moment, suggesting a partie carrée or lover’s tryst.
Preparations are low-key, and there are no servants visible. The setting is a garden lawn on which roasted chicken, bread, and wine are served on a startling white cloth. A man pours wine from a carafe into the glass that a woman holds expectantly. Next to her, another woman holds a wine glass and looks intently at the man beside her. He holds up his hand, gesturing, but she looks up into his face, not at his hand.
See Jean-Antoine Watteau. La Collation or Imbiss in Freien or Lunch in the Open (1721c.), oil on canvas. Winterthur, Germany: The Oskar Reinhart Collection ‘Am Römerholz’, http://www.roemerholz.ch
Jean Moyreau. The Lunch [La Colation after Jean-Antoine Watteau (1729), etching. Widener Collection, Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Featured Image: Jean Moyreau. The Lunch [La Collation] after Jean-Antoine Watteau (1729), etching. Widener Collection, Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
See Jean-Antoine Watteau. La Collation [Imbiss in Freien or Lunch in the Open] (1721c.), oil on canvas. The Oskar Reinhart Collection;