title: The Embarrassing Proposal
text: # The Embarrassing Proposal
  
  The Embarrassing Proposal is a 1715-1716 painting by Antoine Watteau. It was part of Heinrich von Brühl's collection in Dresden before being purchased in 1769 under Catherine II of Russia for the Hermitage Museum, in Saint Petersburg, where it still hangs.
  
  It shows a landscape with three young women and two young gallants. X-ray examination has shown the canvas was previously used for a composition with four people, including a woman playing a guitar and a young man, in the position now occupied by the three seated figures.
  
  ## Exhibition history
  
  List of major exhibitions featuring the work :
  
  | Year | Title | Location | Cat. no. | References | References |
  | - | - | - | - | - | - |
  | Year | Title | Location | Cat. no. | Primary | Secondary |
  | 1955 | An Exhibition of French Art of the 15th-20th Centuries | Pushkin Museum, Moscow | * | | |
  | 1956 | An Exhibition of French Art of the 12th-20th Centuries | Hermitage Museum, Leningrad | * | | |
  | 1972 | Watteau and His Time | Hermitage Museum, Leningrad | 4 | | |
  | 1984–1985 | Watteau 1684–1721 | National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; Galeries nationales du Grand Palais, Paris; Charlottenburg Palace, Berlin | P. 39 | | |
  | 1988 | French Paintings from the USSR | National Gallery, London | 2 | | |
  | 2005–2006 | Russia! | Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York City | 44 | |
  | "*" denotes an unnumbered entry. ||||||
  