Rendez-vous de chasse c. 1717 - 1718

"Rendez-vous de chasse", painted between 1717 and 1718, is a quintessential work by the French Rococo artist Jean-Antoine Watteau. This oil painting depicts a gathering of elegantly dressed figures in a wooded landscape, their leisurely pursuits suggesting a hunting party or a social gathering. Watteau’s signature style of loose brushstrokes and soft, pastel hues creates an idyllic, almost dreamlike atmosphere. The figures, characterized by graceful gestures and delicate features, represent the French aristocratic society of the time, embodying the Rococo ideal of refined pleasure and elegant leisure. This painting exemplifies Watteau's genre of "fêtes galantes" (elegant festivals), which captured the ephemeral beauty and fleeting pleasures of aristocratic life.