Studies of Three Women Gm-00018201

Jean-Antoine Watteau (French, 1684–1721) It was [Jean-Antoine Watteau's] habit to make his drawings in a bound book, so that he always had a large supply of them at hand. When he was in the mood to paint a picture, he resorted to his collection of drawings and chose the figures most suited for the occasion.

Just as this early biographer described, Watteau made this drawing as a study of women's costumes and movement. The central figure later appeared in his painting, Embarkation for Cythera, a diploma piece that gained him membership in the Académie Royale in 1717; the right figure appeared in another painting.

Watteau may have first learned the three-colored chalk technique called trois crayonsby studying Peter Paul Rubens's drawings. This example shows his mastery of the technique and of composition. Watteau achieved brilliant color effects not only through the sensitivity of his line but also by setting down each chalk separately, rather than mixing the three colors. Although each figure is a separate study, Watteau arranged the three elements to create a pleasing, balanced composition.

We make each of our prints one at a time—just for you.

Our Giclée Prints are printed here in Switzerland, one at a time, on heavy matte German art paper using the finest 12-color Canon archival inks. Some images are panoramic or tall and narrow—please select the 18" x 36" format for these.

Our Premium Museum Frame in Black is custom-made in Lugano, Switzerland, using natural wood moulding in a matte black satin finish. Each includes thick, hand-cut white mat boards and Plexiglass glazing. We tailor and print each image to fit its specific ratio and dimensions within our custom-made frames. The hand-cut mats are extra thick. Each bespoke museum frame ships in a custom box. Rush shipping is available for projects with tight deadlines—this is our specialty, and you will not be disappointed.

Our Antiqued Museum Frame in Gold is a high-quality frame made of solid wood, featuring traditional 19th-century cast plaster moulded details and closed corners. These frames are works of art in themselves, each with a unique patina. The hand-rubbed corners and gold finish evoke the elegance of times past. Your selected image is printed on German art paper with archival inks and mounted to quality art board within the frame. Plexiglass is added for print protection and the back is covered with Kraft paper and a hanger is supplied ready to hang..

Our Stretched Canvas prints are hand-stretched over 1.25" thick pine bars and printed with archival inks on a cotton-poly matte finish canvas. These are best-in-industry Swiss-quality canvases, hand-coated for UV protection.

Wall Murals are printed on a matte-finish, self-adhesive poly/fabric material that mounts easily and is ideal for smooth wall surfaces.

Our Note Cards are amazing—each is printed individually on 100% cotton art paper, comes with a kraft envelope, and is individually sleeved. (Image is scaled to fit the format.)

All of our images are digitized from the original negative or print and printed by our master printer to museum standards.

Questions? Please email service@archivea.com or call/text +41 79 265 8891.

Artwork in this collection is from The J. Paul Getty Museum. Reproduction rights are reserved by the copyright owner and used under license by Archivea GmbH.