François WATTEAU, known as WATTEAU DE LILLE (Valenciennes, 1758 – Lille, 1823) Enlistment: A Young Conscript Welcomed into a Drawing Room Oil on oak panel, parquet-style The young conscript welcomed into a drawing room, oil on oak panel, by F. Watteau, known as Watteau de Lille 11.41 x 12.99 in. 29 x 33 cm Provenance: Probably the collection of François-Laurent Planquart, Lille, in 1888; Probably from his sale, Lille, 29–31 October 1888, lot 37 (The Enlistment: “The same figure, standing before a commander surrounded by his family, receives the reward for his enlistment” as a companion piece to *L’enrôlement*: “a young peasant surrounded by French guards, who offer him a drink and show him a purse, a sign of his enlistment in the army”); Private European collection Exhibitions: Probably the Salon, Lille, 1788, no. 10 (The Presentation of a Recruit, a companion piece to Recruiters) Probably the Watteau Exhibition, Lille, Palais Rameau, 31 March–30 April 1889, no. 128 (*The Enlistment* with its companion piece *Military Dance Hall*) Bibliography: Probably Jules Houdoy, *Etudes artistiques*, Paris, 1877, p. 109 Probably Gaetane Maes, *Les Watteau de Lille*, Paris, 1998, p. 358, no. FP 28, p. 400, no. FPP 6 (as a pair with *L’enrôlement*) François Watteau, the younger nephew of Jean Antoine Watteau, learnt the art of painting from his father, Louis Joseph. Based in Lille, the father and son are identified by art historians under the label ‘Watteau de Lille’ to distinguish them from the more famous Antoine. As part of his training, François Watteau travelled to Paris in 1775 to join the studio of the history painter Louis Durameau, who had just been appointed professor at the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture. From 1773 onwards, François Watteau exhibited regularly at the Salon des Arts in his hometown. In 1786, he returned permanently to Lille, where he was appointed to the city’s Academy. It is highly likely that our painting is the work presented by the artist at the 1788 Lille Salon, together with its companion piece depicting the episode preceding the enlistment shown here: when the troops entice new recruits by highlighting the financial rewards to be gained from such an undertaking. Whilst Antoine Watteau and Louis Watteau produced several military subjects depicting episodes related to soldiers’ lives, this type of subject remains rarer in the work of François Watteau. As in *La satisfaction du mariage*, which he painted in the same year¹, François Watteau depicts here a sumptuous Louis XVI-style interior with a vibrant and graceful touch. The sketchy treatment of the background is also found in other paintings executed by the artist in 1788 (such as *Le Souper* and *L’Arrestation*, Cailleux Collection, 1954²), as does the attention to detail in the clothing that characterises the artist’s style. 1. Lille, Musée des Beaux-Arts, inv. no. 353, on loan to the Musée de l’Hospice Comtesse. 2. Gaëtane Maës, *Les Watteau de Lille*, Paris, 1998, p. 359, inv. nos. FP 29 and 30 We would like to thank Ms Gaëtane Maës for kindly confirming the authenticity of this work, based on photographs, in an email dated 29 May 2026. François WATTEAU, known as WATTEAU DE LILLE (Valenciennes, 1758 – Lille, 1823) 29 x 33 cm