On the Terrace c. 1730 - 1735

Curator: Oh, wow, look at this painting. It feels like a whispered secret, doesn’t it? Faded grandeur. Editor: Indeed. What we have here is "On the Terrace," a gouache on paper, dating back to around 1730-1735, created by Jean-Baptiste Joseph Pater. It’s a key example of Rococo genre painting. Curator: Rococo, for sure. Look at those gossamer dresses! I get a sense of clandestine meetings, maybe even the subtle protest of the idle class through fashion and flirtation. The women almost melt into the landscape… it’s dreamy. Editor: The setting is particularly revealing, framed within established aristocratic gardens. Yet, the loose rendering in gouache is itself interesting, pushing back against established academic rigour; consider it within the emerging discourses on pleasure, leisure, and performance in 18th-century French society. The light, almost pastel shades, soften any hint of seriousness. Curator: Soft is the word! Everything about this screams indulgence. You can almost smell the perfume. Are they plotting something wicked, or simply escaping reality in powdered wigs and panniers? It's like stepping into a hazy memory, isn't it? Editor: Possibly a little of both, in a subversive manner, through the aesthetics of pleasure, Pater makes visible the complex negotiations of gender, class and power in a society undergoing significant transformation. There is something unsettling about this picture. Curator: Absolutely, this painting has that "calm before the storm" vibe to it, like Marie Antoinette playing shepherdess right before everything fell apart. It's captivating because you just know there's something beneath the surface, some intrigue or scandalous affair simmering beneath those lace collars. A kind of passive-aggressive political stance, perhaps. Editor: Well, this has certainly provided ample material to think with, looking at leisure through the lens of subversive protest, I must remember that. Curator: For me, this painting is a reminder to always look for the secret stories behind pretty things. To find the revolution in the ruffles!