Jean-Antoine Watteau

Born at Valenciennes, Watteau, who early displayed an interest in drawing, left for Paris to study art in 1702. After a harsh struggle to survive, he won recognition in 1709, when he garnered second prize in a student competition at the Academy. Three years later he was invited to join the Academy, and success followed swiftly. His patrons, who came from diverse levels of society, included dealers, antiquaries, and such connoisseurs as the great collector Pierre Crozat. Long frail of health, Watteau died from tuberculosis soon after a visit to London, at the age of thirty-seven.

Source: Art in The Frick Collection: Paintings, Sculpture, Decorative Arts, New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1996.