Encampment (Soldiers' Halt)

Pater was one of the few pupils of the great Rococo painter Watteau. This work exhibits the typical aesthetics and format of early Rococo painting in its poetic depiction of soldiers at leisure. Pater expressed the strengths and the sensitivities of man, taking joy in the beauty of nature and living things. While the work lacks the delicate balance of objects steeped in shuddering light found in Watteau's work, the lively and fresh brushwork makes it a particularly fine example of Pater's œvre. (Source: The Digital Gallery. 1999-2006)