Excerpt from Watteau
Watteau's Work and Position in the History of Art.
Fontennelee has a fanciful theory that the inspiration of art and letter is acted upon like a barometer by the weather.
"The eighteenth century," he says, "was distinguished with a mild sun and laughing sky, and earth covered in roses. France was a universal garden rich with the sweetest and most enervating perfumes. Then were born two delicate children destined to give spirit and colour to their age; they were Voltaire and Watteau, the representative poet and painter of the eighteenth century."
In the same spirit M. Arsene Houssaye speaks of the parallelism of art and letters.
"Poussin, Le Sueur, Champaigne, and Le Brim are a good pendant to Corneille, Moliere, Boileau, and Racine. La Fontaine has no pendant, he was himself poet and painter. In the eighteenth century grandeur and simplicity meet. Voltaire, who is only poet by the lightness of his grace, was born at the same time as Watteau, with the same fire of genius, the same caprice. Marivaux, Gentil-Bernard, Crebillonle-gai, and Boufflers are contemporaries of Van Loo, Boucher, La Tour, and Fragonard. Later on Greuze and Florian appear together; then David and Prudhon contend nobly with Marie-Joseph Chen if rand Andre Chenier, and thus painting and poetry advanced hand in hand in France."
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