Adolphe Monticelli

Adolphe Monticelli’s Fête galante unites the refinement of 18th-century fête galante subjects with the daring expressiveness of modern painting. Although the subject recalls the bucolic fêtes galantes of Antoine Watteau, Monticelli’s treatment is strikingly innovative. The heavily worked surface, with its thick impasto, lends the painting a rich, almost sculptural texture. Figures are rendered in abbreviated form, their faces suggested by flickers of red and ochre against creamy highlights, their costumes dissolving into passages of blue, gold and earth tones. This painterly freedom privileges colour, light and texture over linear precision, creating an effect that is atmospheric and expressive rather than descriptive.

Monticelli’s bold approach reflects the influence of Narcisse Diaz de la Peña, yet it is wholly distinctive. His vibrant, chromatic surfaces and tactile brushwork were to prove profoundly influential on Vincent van Gogh, who admired Monticelli’s audacity and credited him as an important precursor to modern painting.

'I paint for fifty years from now. It will take that long for people to learn to see my painting' (G. Isnard, Monticelli Sans sa Légende, Geneva 1967, p. 11), Monticelli remarked, conscious of his originality and his oeuvre’s future significance. In Fête galante, the contrast between a nostalgic, Arcadian theme and a daringly modern execution encapsulates the artist’s singular contribution to 19th-century French painting.

The attribution of this painting has been endorsed by Marc Stammegna.