Antoine Watteau lived in the “age of vain marques” and all his work reflects the mood and unique flair of the long-gone eighteenth century. The picture “Fix”, which Watteau was nameless, and its name acquired years later, was one of the masterpieces of the master, clearly demonstrating his style and interests.
At first glance, nothing is happening here – beautifully dressed people enjoy nature, which has a pronounced decorative look. The trees, like the open backstage, open the viewer to the audience, on which idle gentlemen talk about something.
However, if you look at the figures on the right, you can see how this calm idyll is destroyed. Undoubtedly, there is a clarification of relations. The young man tries to stop the lady, who resolutely withdraws for sure something offended or hurt.
The rest of the group of people is a lady with a guitar, another marquise turned with her back and a young man in a red coat become unwitting witnesses to this predicament. And the young man sitting on the ground, obviously knows how the situation will be resolved – the lady will leave anyway, as evidenced by his malicious half-smile.
The charm of this work is not only in a perfectly adjusted composition, excellent transmission of texture and folds of clothes, competent arrangement of color accents, but also in this understatement, the incompleteness of the plot, which enables the viewer to fantasize about the topic given by the author.
(2 votes, average: 3.50 out of 5)