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.

The man in the watercolor closely resembles the painter himself going to his studio wearing a beret and green trenchcoat.