Jean Antoine Watteau came from a modest family in the Flemish city of Valenciennes, which had been annexed by France in 1678. He is said to have spent his formative years training under either the religious painter Jacques Albert Gérin (c.
degree of the satirical whimsy that characterized his own specialized depictions of theater
figures in theatrical costume attest to Jean Antoine Watteau’s interest in the theater
Manet came from a well–to–do family, and this painting provides a glimpse of the sophisticated Parisian world he loved. He was uncomfortable in the countryside, preferring instead the finery of the city.
and women, all of them with pale skin and most of them wearing black, stand in a theater
Nicolas Lancret was one of Antoine Watteau’s most talented followers and helped to disseminate the taste for fête-galante subjects in the eighteenth century. On the far left musicians are hidden amidst the trees, while across the canvas from left to right, arranged on an exaggerated S curve, stylishly dressed spectators have assembled in intimate groups to watch a couple perform a pas de deux.
composition with a magical quality where the idea of nature and the fantasy of the theater
the many vices and criminal tendencies long attached to the lowest classes and theater
Jan Steen’s paintings encompass a wide range of moods and subjects, from intimate scenes of a family saying grace before a meal to festive village celebrations, yet all of his paintings elicit a warm reaction to the lives of ordinary people. All five senses are represented in this work in which two young musicians play for a dancing couple while other people in the vine-covered arbor flirt, eat, drink, or smoke, and children amuse themselves with their toys.
which are marked by a sophisticated use of contemporary literature and popular theater
photography on Hopper’s work, see Gail Levin, "Edward Hopper: The Influence of Theater
In this photograph, journalist and musician Celeste Headlee hears Lenox Avenue, a suite her grandfather William Grant Still named after Harlem’s main street. This portrait captures the pride of Black Americans achieving success during the Harlem Renaissance despite systemic injustice.Â
dates to the height of the Harlem Renaissance, when vibrant Black music, dance, theater
Composer Nathalie Joachim sees her childhood memories in May Flowers. The photograph also evokes the uniquely spiritual experience of recording a church choir in her family’s Haitian village. Joachim has lovingly woven their song into her composition.
She was an actress in one of the first Black theater troops in France, which was
Studying artists and their works invites explorations of identity and the human condition. What drives artists to create? What choices do artists make, and why? Sometimes artists directly engage with questions of identity in their artwork: Who am I? How do I relate to others, and how do they relate to me?
agency, and beauty. afro.died, T. is a mash-up of hip hop, classical Japanese Kabuki theater
