The Embarrassing Proposal is a 1715-1716 painting by Antoine Watteau. It was part of Heinrich von Brühl's collection in Dresden before being purchased in 1769 under Catherine II of Russia for the Hermitage Museum, in Saint Petersburg, where it still hangs.
It shows a landscape with three young women and two young gallants. X-ray examination has shown the canvas was previously used for a composition with four people, including a woman playing a guitar and a young man, in the position now occupied by the three seated figures.
Exhibition history + List of major exhibitions featuring the workYearTitleLocationCat. no.ReferencesPrimarySecondary1955An Exhibition of French Art of the 15th-20th CenturiesPushkin Museum, Moscow*1956An Exhibition of French Art of the 12th-20th CenturiesHermitage Museum, Leningrad*1972Watteau and His TimeHermitage Museum, Leningrad41984–1985Watteau 1684–1721National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; Galeries nationales du Grand Palais, Paris; Charlottenburg Palace, BerlinP. 391988French Paintings from the USSRNational Gallery, London22005–2006Russia!Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York City44"*" denotes an unnumbered entry.
References
Bibliography
(p. 80, cat. no. 130.)
External links An Embarrassing Proposal at the Hermitage's official website An Embarrassing Proposal at the Web Gallery of Art