Public collection via the Cleveland Museum of Art
AT-00009269About the Artwork
Jean-Baptiste Pater was the sole student of the early 18th-century artist Antoine Watteau (1684–1721). Upon Watteau's death, Pater finished some of his teacher's compositions and copied them for reproduction. Due to this association, Pater was in the position to capitalize on the popularity of the fête galante genre invented by Watteau. This genre was based on the fêtes held by the aristocracy to escape the tedium of life at the French court, and depict the same amusements: conversation, music, dance, and the pursuit of love. Dancers in a Pavilion is a pastiche of several works by Watteau. The couple in this painting is most likely performing the minuet, which was considered the most flirtatious of dances.
Provenance
probably by 1773: Frederick the Great (1712-1786), Palace Sans-Souci, Potsdam, Germany Until 1926: German Imperial Family By 1931: Joseph Duveen (1869-1939), London, England -1938: Commodore and Mrs. Louis Dudley Beaumont, (1857-1942), Cap d'Antibes, France, by gift to the Cleveland Museum of Art 1938-: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
Exhibition history
The Silver Jubilee Exhibition. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 23-September 28, 1941). Exhibition of the Month: Masterpieces in Miniature. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 3-August 29, 1949). The Dance in Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (May 20-August 17, 1955). Mozart and the Age of Reason. The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO (organizer) (January 15-February 29, 1956). Masterpieces of Art. Century 21 Exposition, Seattle, WA (organizer) (April 21-September 4, 1962). Visions of Landscape: East and West. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 17-March 21, 1982). Lutes, Lovers, and Lyres: Musical Imagery in the Collection. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 14-June 11, 1989).
Data retrieved from the Cleveland Museum of Art on October 8, 2026. The museum may have updated its record since.
Quick Overview
- Artist
- Jean-Baptiste Pater (French, 1695–1736)
- Date
- 1720s
- Medium
- oil on canvas
- Dimensions
- Framed: 79.5 x 70 x 10.5 cm (31 5/16 x 27 9/16 x 4 1/8 in.); Unframed: 55.3 x 47 cm (21 3/4 x 18 1/2 in.)
- Type
- Painting
- Classification
- Painting
- Department
- European Painting and Sculpture
- Credit line
- Gift of Commodore Louis D. Beaumont
- Accession no.
- 1938.392
More by Jean-Baptiste Pater in museum collections
Open-access museum record · AT-00009269
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