Fête Champetre

Gathered around a picnic basket, fashionably dressed figures are enjoying a garden party, or fête champetre – a type of outdoor entertainment popular at the French court during the eighteenth century. Couples gaze into each other's eyes and the atmosphere is one of joy and relaxation. Light falls on the centre of the scene, drawing the viewer’s gaze to the woman in the pink and gold dress. The man beside her holds her arm, and the two appear to be deep in conversation.  

Like many eighteenth-century French painters, Jean-Baptiste Pater (1695-1736) specialised in fêtes galantes, loosely translated as 'courtship parties' - a genre of painting that primarily featured elite figures dressed in ball dress or masquerade costumes dancing and enjoying themselves in an idyllic country setting. The characters and setting in this painting borrow heavily from the work of French artist Jean-Antione Watteau (1684–1721), who is regarded as the inventor of the fête galante genre and was once Pater’s tutor. This light-hearted subject matter was perfect to decorate the walls of a vibrant Parisian townhouse, and Pater produced vast numbers of scenes with wealthy French collectors in mind.