The Surprise (Watteau)

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The Surprise is a c.1718 oil on panel painting by Antoine Watteau, showing a man dressed as Mezzetino playing a guitar whilst a couple embrace and a small dog watches.

It was a pendant to Perfect Harmony (Los Angeles County Museum of Art). Both works were originally owned by Nicolas Hénin, but they were sold separately by his heir, who published an engraving of both works. Surprise then disappeared between 1770 and 1848 and again between 1848 and 2007. The original was rediscovered in March 2008 in a British country house and had been in that family's collection since 1848. It was sold for 15 million Euros at Christie's in London on 8 July 2008.

Camesasca, Ettore, ed. (1971). The Complete Painting of Watteau (loan required). Classics of the World's Great Art. Introduction by John Sutherland. New York: Harry N. Abrams. p. 112. ISBN 0810955253. OCLC 143069 – via the Internet Archive. Cat. no. 144.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: postscript (link)

v t e Antoine Watteau
Paintings	The Country Dance (c. 1706–1710) Marriage Contract and Country Dancing (c. 1711) Cupid Disarmed (c. 1715) Savoyard with a Marmot (1716) The Two Cousins (1716) The Robber of the Sparrow's Nest (c. 1709–1716) Pastoral Pleasure (c. 1714–1716) The Embarrassing Proposal (c. 1715–1716) L'Indifférent (1717) The Shepherds (c. 1717) The Dreamer (c. 1712–1717) The Chord (c. 1714–1717) The Surprise (c. 1718) Actors of the Comédie-Française (c. 1711–1718) La Boudeuse (c. 1715–1718) The Faux Pas (1716–1718) The Embarkation for Cythera (c. 1717; c. 1718–1719) Fêtes Vénitiennes (1719) Perfect Harmony (c. 1719) Jupiter and Antiope (c. 1714–1719) Pierrot (c. 1718–1719) The Worried Lover (c. 1715–1720) Mezzetino (c. 1718–1720) Holy Family (c. 1714–1721) L'Enseigne de Gersaint (1720–1721)
Drawings	Two Studies of an Actor (c. 1716–1721)
Related people	Claude Audran III Pierre Crozat Claude Gillot Jean de Jullienne Edme-François Gersaint Philippe Mercier Jean-Baptiste Pater Pierre-Antoine Quillard
Related articles	Fête galante Polish Woman (attributed) Rococo

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