# The Dreamer (La Rêveuse)

- By: Jean Antoine Watteau (French, 1684–1721)
- Date: 1712–14
- Medium: Oil on panel
- Classification: Painting
- Dimensions: 23.2 × 17 cm (9 1/8 × 6 11/16 in.); Framed: 35 × 28.9 × 7 cm (13 3/4 × 11 3/8 × 2 3/4 in.)
- Culture: France
- Credit line: Mr. and Mrs. Lewis Larned Coburn Memorial Collection
- Museum: [Art Institute of Chicago](https://www.artic.edu/artworks/12007)
- Rights: [Public domain (CC0)](https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/)
- Picture: https://www.artic.edu/iiif/2/40bf35ab-2898-650e-9e27-d38c4cf39a30/full/!1647,1080/0/default.jpg
- Who can see it: Tweens profiles and older (museums give no ratings; placed by Invisible Network from the museum's own words)

The traditional title of this small painting, The Dreamer, derives from an engraving made after it, which was intended for sale to a wider audience. The work is one of a number of small figure paintings by Jean-Antoine Watteau in which the subject’s clothing was inspired by contemporary theater. Here, the woman wears a pseudo-Turkish costume, which reflects the Western European vogue for Turkish culture (“turquerie”) at that time. Watteau’s uniquely delicate, sensitive, and intimate style influenced a number of other painters throughout the 18th century.

Description © Art Institute of Chicago, CC BY 4.0