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# LA Museum Buys Painting of 18th C Actors
- URL: https://hyperallergic.com/la-museum-buys-painting-of-18th-c-actors/
- Published: 2012-03-16T02:58:53.000Z
- Updated: 2025-11-24T16:46:13.000Z
- Description: I guess we should be expect an LA museum to acquire a painting of actors but this one might be by the great 18th C. French painter Jean-Antoine Watteau.
- Author: Hrag Vartanian
- Tags: Opinion, Getty Museum, #wp, #wp-post, #image-position-hidden, #Import 2025-11-24 06:51 (2012, 2013, part 1)

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2012/03/actors-getty-watteau-600.jpg)

Maybe a Watteau? (original image by Getty, via LA Times)

I guess we should be expect an LA museum to acquire a painting of actors but [this one](http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-et-getty-watteau-20120316,0,5716791,full.story?ref=hyperallergic.com) might be by the great 18th C. French painter Jean-Antoine Watteau.

According to the *LA Times*, the painting purchased by the Getty Museum is possibly by the French master but there’s no consensus. Some think this large canvas — four by three feet — could be by the lesser painter Jean-Baptiste Pater. But no matter the attribution, we can all probably agree this is the funniest part of the article:

> Given its theme, Schaefer said with a laugh, “The Italian Comedians” may have found just the right home: L.A. can relate to the idea of acting and wanting to get paid for it.