Drawing a Crowd

The Art Institute's astounding collection of prints and drawings deserves a closer look.

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8. JEAN ANTOINE WATTEAU
The Old Savoyard (ca.1715)
Watteau was a French painter known for a light-hearted style that helped inspire the Rococo movement. The Art Institute has several of his drawings, including this example, a dignified chalk portrait of a Savoy street performer lugging his marmot box.

McCULLAGH SAYS: "You feel the elevation of this individual despite his anonymity."

This article appears in the November 2007 issue of Chicago Magazine.

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