Fête champêtre (Pastoral Gathering)

• P[ierre] Hédouin, “Watteau III: Catalogue de son oeuvre,” L’Artiste: Revue de Paris 4th ser., 5 (1845), p. 80, no. 137.
• [Gustave Friedrich] Waagen, Galleries and Cabinets of Art in Great Britain…, London, 1857, p. 84.
• Edmond de Goncourt, Catalogue raisonné de l’oeuvre peint, dessiné et gravé d’Antoine Watteau, Paris, 1875, p. 162.
• André Joubin, “Un Catalogue de vente illustré par Jules Boilly,” Beaux-Arts: Revue d’information artistique 3 (1925), p. 336.
• Louis Hourticq et. al., Le Paysage française de Poussin à Corot à l’exposition du Petit Palais (Mai-Juin 1925), Paris, 1926, p. 144, no. P249.
• Florence Ingersoll-Smouse, Pater, Paris, 1928, p. 44, no. 81.
• Hélène Adhémar, Watteau: Sa Vie-–son oeuvre, Paris, 1950, p. 241, no. 314. AIC 1961, pp. 350-51.
• Frederick A. Sweet, “Great Chicago Collectors,” Apollo 84 (1966), p. 203, p. 205, fig. 39.
• Ettore Camesaca and John Sunderland, The Complete Paintings of Watteau, New York, 1968, p. 128, no. 2°D.
• John Ingamells, The Wallace Collection: Catalogue of Pictures, pt. 3, French before 1815, London, 1989, p. 388, no. 118.
• Christopher Wright, The World’s Master Paintings from the Early Renaissance to the Present Day: A Comprehensive Listing of Works by 1,300 Painters and a Complete Guide to Their Locations Worldwide, New York, 1991, vol. 1, p. 454, vol. 2, pp. 62, 607.
• L[arry] J. F[einberg] in Susan Wise and Malcolm Warner, French and British Paintings from 1600-1800 in The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, 1996, pp. 159-69, ill.
• Larry Feinberg and Frank Zuccari, “A Rediscovered ‘Fête champêtre’ by Watteau in the Art Institute of Chicago,” Burlington Magazine 139 (1997), pp. 236-47, figs. 2-3, 9-11, 13, 15, 19, 20-21, 23-24.
• Martin Eidelberg, “Watteau at Chicago,” Burlington Magazine 140 (1998), pp. 268-269.
• Christoph Martin Vogtherr, Stiftung Preussische Schlösser und Gärten Berlin-Brandenburg. Bestandskataloge der Kunstsammlungen, Französische Gemälde I: Watteau, Pater, Lancret, Lajoüe (Berlin, 2011), pp. 224-26, fig. 1.

• Manchester, City Art Gallery, Art Treasures of the United Kingdom, 1857, no. 29, as Pater.
• London, Bethnal Green Branch of the South Kensington Museum, Painting, Porcelain, Bronzes, Decorative Furniture, and Other Works of Art, Lent for Exhibition… by Sir Richard Wallace, Bart., M.P., 1872-75, no. 436, as Pater, Pleasure Seekers.
• Paris, Palais des Beaux-Arts de la Ville de Paris (Petit Palais), Exposition du paysage française de Poussin á Corot, 1925, no. 149, as Pater.
• Chicago, The University of Chicago, Renaissance Society, Max Epstein Memorial Exhibition, 1955, no. 13, as Pater.
• Art Institute of Chicago, Selected Works of Eighteenth-Century French Art in the Collections of the Art Institute of Chicago, 1976, no. 4, as Imitator of Jean Antoine Watteau.
• Art Institute of Chicago, New Light on Old Masters: French and British Paintings from 1600 to 1800 in The Art Institute of Chicago, 1996, no cat.

Probably Jean Baptiste Pierre Le Brun, Paris, by 1773; probably his sale, Pierre Rémy, Paris, December 20, 22 and 23, 1773, no. 177, as Watteau, “Vingt-six figures de pouces de proportions, occupées à chanter, à jouer & à se promener dans différens endroits d’un Parc très-orné d’arbres. La belle couleur rend ce Tableau un des plus capitaux qui soit connu de ce Maître” (Twenty-six figures, each five pouces in size, are engaged in singing, playing, and promenading in various areas of a park highly ornamented with trees. The beautiful coloring of the painting makes it one of the finest known by this master) [supported by Gabriel de Saint Aubin’s sketch in the margin of his sale catalogue; see Feinberg in Wise and Warner 1996, fig. 3]; probably Daniel Saint, Paris, by 1845; sold Hôtel des Ventes, Paris, May 4, 1846, no. 57, as Watteau, for Fr 4900, probably to Richard Seymour Conway, fourth marquess of Hertford [Goncourt 1875]. Richard Seymour Conway, fourth marquess of Hertford (d.1870), Paris [Waagen1857, pp. 79, 84]; by descent to Sir Richard Wallace, Bt. (d.1890); at his death to his widow, Lady Wallace (d. 1897); at her death to Sir John E. A. Murray Scott, Bt. (died1912); sold at Christie’s, London, June 27, 1913, no. 134 (ill.), as Pater, to Agnew, London, for 2415 gns. [annotated sales catalogue, Christie’s]; sold, as Pater, to Walter S. M. Burns, Esq. (d. 1930), North Myms Park, Hatfield, 1919 [letter of April 7, 1981 from William Joll, Agnew’s, in curatorial file]; sold Christie’s, London, June 20, 1930, no. 106 (ill.), as Lancret, to Frank T. Sabin, London, for 3045 gns. [annotated catalogue in Ryerson Library, Art Institute]; sold to Max and Leola Epstein, Chicago, 1934 [Art Institute registrar’s receipt]; given to the Art Institute, 1954.