La Balançoire

This treatment of the swing is one of the most popular subjects in French 18th century painting. Pater and Antoine Watteau were natives of Valenciennes and Pater probably followed Watteau to Paris in 1710 and became his pupil. Pater, along with Nicolas Lancret, was the most important representative of the many artists influenced by Watteau, most of whom chose individual motifs or groups from Watteau's 'fete galante' and made them independent themes. This process alone is indicative of a specific tendency in Rococo: the tendency towards small scale, intimate scenes.