The Embarrassing Proposal

The Embarrassing Proposal is a 1715-1716 painting by Antoine Watteau. It was part of Heinrich von Brühl's collection in Dresden before being purchased in 1769 under Catherine II of Russia for the Hermitage Museum, where it still hangs.

The Embarrassing Proposal
ArtistJean-Antoine Watteau
Yearca. 1715–1716
CatalogueH 130 (132); G 158; DV 274; R 129; HA 142; EC 146; RM 189
Mediumoil on canvas
Dimensions65 cm × 84.5 cm (26 in × 33.3 in)
LocationThe Hermitage, Saint Petersburg
AccessionГЭ-1150

It shows a landscape with three young women and two young gallants. X-ray examination has shown the canvas was previously used for a composition with four people, including a woman playing a guitar and a young man, in the position now occupied by the three seated figures.

Exhibition history
List of major exhibitions featuring the work
Year Title Location Cat. no. References
Primary Secondary
1955 An Exhibition of French Art of the 15th-20th Centuries Pushkin Museum, Moscow * [1] [2]
1956 An Exhibition of French Art of the 12th-20th Centuries Hermitage Museum, Leningrad * [3]
1972 Watteau and His Time Hermitage Museum, Leningrad 4 [4]
1984–1985 Watteau 1684–1721 National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; Galeries nationales du Grand Palais, Paris; Charlottenburg Palace, Berlin P. 39 [5]
1988 French Paintings from the USSR National Gallery, London 2 [2]
2005–2006 Russia! Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York City 44 [6]
"*" denotes an unnumbered entry.

References
  1. Antonova, I. A.; Berezina, V. N.; Borovaya, T. A.; et al. (1955). Выставка французского искусства XV-XX вв. Каталог (in Russian). With introduction by V. Prokofiev. Moscow: Iskusstvo. p. 24.
  2. Deryabina, E. V. "Jean-Antoine Watteau (1684–1721), La Proposition embarrasante (The Embarrassing Proposal)". In Babin, A. A.; Suslov, V. A. (eds.). French Paintings from the USSR: Watteau to Matisse. Catalogue translated by Irene Gore and Catherine Matthews. London: The Gallery. pp. 34–35, catalogue note no. 2. ISBN 0947645551. OCLC 1035139931 – via the Internet Archive.
  3. The Hermitage Museum, Leningrad (1956). Выставка французского искусства XII-XX вв. (1956; Ленинград). Каталог (in Russian). Moscow: Iskusstvo. p. 12.
  4. Hermitage Museum, Leningrad (1972). Ватто и его время (in Russian). Leningrad: Avrora. pp. 14–15, 20. OCLC 990348938.
  5. Grasselli, Rosenberg & Parmantier 1984, pp. 340–341.
  6. Niichel, Scott (2005). "44. Jean-Antoine Watteau (1684–1721), An Embarrasing Proposal". Russia! (catalogue of the exhibition at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, and the Guggenheim Hermitage Museum, Las Vegas). New York: Guggenheim Museum, DAP. p. 13, cat. no. 44. ISBN 0-89207-331-4. OCLC 607728025 – via the Internet Archive.

Bibliography
  • Adhemar, Helene (1950). Watteau; sa vie, son oeuvre (in French). Includes "L’univers de Watteau", an introduction by René Huyghe. Paris: P. Tisné. p. 144. OCLC 853537. Cat. no. 142, plate 73
  • Camesasca, Ettore, ed. (1971). The Complete Paintings of Watteau (loan required). Classics of the World's Great Art. Introduction by John Sunderland. New York: Harry N. Abrams. p. 112. ISBN 0810955253. OCLC 143069 – via the Internet Archive. Cat. no. 146.
  • Descargues, Pierre (1961). The Hermitage Museum, Leningrad. New York: Harry N. Abrams. pp. 31, 170. OCLC 829900432.
  • Goncourt, Edmond de (1875). Catalogue raisonné de l'oeuvre peint, dessiné et gravé d'Antoine Watteau. Paris: Rapilly. p. 142. OCLC 1041772738 – via the Internet Archive.
  • Grasselli, Margaret Morgan; Rosenberg, Pierre; Parmantier, Nicole; et al. (1984). Watteau, 1684-1721 (PDF) (exhibition catalogue). Washington: National Gallery of Art. ISBN 0-89468-074-9. OCLC 557740787 – via the National Gallery of Art archive.
  • Hédouin, Pierre (November 30, 1845). "Watteau: catalogue de son oeuvre". L'Artiste (in French). pp. 78–80 – via Gallica. p. 80, cat. no. 130.
  • Hédouin, Pierre (1856). Mosaïque. Peintres, musiciens, littérateurs, artistes dramatiques à partir du 15e siècle jusqu'à nos jours. Paris: Heugel. p. 107, cat. no. 132. OCLC 1157159285 – via the Internet Archive.
  • Hildebrandt, Edmund (1923). Antoine Watteau (in German). Berlin: Propyläen-Verlag. p. 167, pl. 46. OCLC 1039987046 – via the Internet Archive.
  • Mathey, Jacques (1959). Antoine Watteau. Peintures réapparues inconnues ou négligées par les historiens (in French). Paris: F. de Nobele. p. 68.
  • Nemilova, I. S. (1964). Ватто и его произведения в Эрмитаже (Watteau et son œuvre à l'Ermitage) [Watteau and His Works in the Hermitage] (in Russian). Leningrad: Sovetskiy hudozhnik. OCLC 67871342.
  • Nemilova, I. S. (1971). "К вопросу о творческом процессе Антуана Ватто (On the Question of Watteau's Creative Process)". In Libman M. Y.; et al. (eds.). Искусство Запада [Western Art] (in Russian). Moscow: Nauka. pp. 181–195. OCLC 707104089.
  • Nemilova, I. S. (1982). Французская живопись XVIII века в Эрмитаже (La peinture française du XVIIIe siècle, Musée de L’Ermitage: catalogue raisonné) [French Painting of the 18th centrty in the Hermitage Museum: Scientific Catalogue]. Leningrad: Iskusstvo. pp. 139–140.
  • Nemilova, I. S. (1985). Французская живопись XVIII века [French Painting of the 18th Century]. Государственный Эрмитаж. Собрание живописи (in Russian). Moscow: Izobrazitel'noe iskusstvo. p. 243. OCLC 878889718.
  • Nemilova, I. S. (1989) [first published in 1973]. Загадки старых картин [Enigmas of Old Masters] (in Russian) (3rd ed.). Moscow: Izobrazitel'noe iskusstvo. ISBN 5-85200-017-5. OCLC 909190011.
  • Posner, Donald (1984). Antoine Watteau. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press. pp. 285–286. ISBN 0-8014-1571-3. OCLC 10736607.
  • Réau, Louis (1928–1930). "Watteau". In Dimier, Louis (ed.). Les peintres français du XVIII-e siècle: Histoire des vies et catalogue des œuvres (in French). 1. Paris: G. Van Oest. p. 41, cat. no. 129. OCLC 564527521.
  • Roland Michel, Marianne (1980). Antoine Watteau: das Gesamtwerk (in German). Translated from the French by Rudolf Kimmig. Frankfurt: Ullstein. pp. 66, 68, cat. no. 189. ISBN 3-548-36019-X. OCLC 69202887.
  • Somof, A. (1903). Ermitage imperial. Catalogue de la Galerie des tableaux. Troisième partie: école anglaise et ècole française. St. Petersburg: La Companie d'Imprimerie artistique. p. 107, cat. no. 1501 – via the Internet Archive.
  • Sterling, Charles (1958). Great French Painting in the Hermitage. Translated from French by Christopher Ligota. New York: Harry N. Abrams. OCLC 598217.
  • Weiner, P. P. von, ed. (1923). Meisterwerke der Gemäldesammlung in der Eremitage zu Petrograd (in German). München: F. Hanfstaengl. p. 287. OCLC 741513217 – via the Internet Archive.
  • Zimmermann, E. Heinrich (1912). Watteau: des Meisters Werke in 182 Abbildungen. Klassiker der Kunst (in German). 21. Stuttgart, Leipzig: Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt. pp. 13, 185–186.
  • Zolotov, Y. K., ed. (1973). Антуан Ватто [Antoine Watteau: a reproductions album] (альбом репродукций) (in Russian). Leningrad: Aurora. pp. 143–144.



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