Le concert champêtre

The fête champêtre, translating to ‘pastoral festival’ or ‘country feast,’ refers to a garden party, popular at the French court in the 18th century. It became the subject of a genre of paintings by the same name, that shows well-dressed individuals enjoying refreshments and entertainment in a pastoral landscape.

These paintings were sometimes also called ‘fête galante’ when depicting a graceful, usually aristocratic scene or ‘concert champêtre’ when depicting a musical scene, such as in Constant’s watercolour. Though Antoine Watteau (1684-1721) is often considered the inventor of the genre, Titian’s (attributed) Le Concert Champêtre, is often regarded as an early predecessor.