ROCOCO ART

It was playful, superficial and alive with energy ORIGINS Was born in Paris where it coincided with the reign of Louis 15th It was out-dated by the 1760s in France, but it continued to impact other parts of Europe The name derives from rocaille motif of shell work and pebbles ornamenting grottoes and fountains It was playful, superficial and alive with energy

aristocracy Rococo art was as decorative and non-functional as the effete aristocracy that embraced it. After the death of Louis 14th (1715), the aristocracy abandoned Versailles for Paris where the salons of their ornate townhouses epitomized the new Rococo style The nobility lived a frivolous existence devoted to pleasure, reflected in a characteristic painting, ‘fete galante’

Pilgrimage to Cythera , Antoine Watteau Romantic couples frolic on an enchanted isle of eternal youth and love.

Baroque art Rococo is seen both as the climax and fall of Baroque art. After the heavy works created in the Baroque style artists were ready for a change. The Rococo manner was a reaction against the"grand manner" of art identified with the baroque formality and rigidity of court life.

Rococo art was light, airy, decorative and mostly used pastels A Change in art The paintings of Antoine Watteau (1684-1721) and Francois Boucher (1703-70), Jean Honore Fragonard (1732-1806) signalled a change in art from the serious and grandiose to the superficial and frothy Rococo art was light, airy, decorative and mostly used pastels A difference from the past, the art depicted flirtatious and frivolous subjects-it was carefree and very different from what had come before

Rococo art portrayed a world of artificiality, make- believe, and game-playing. Although less formal, it was essentially an art of the aristocracy and emphasized what seem now to have been the unreflective and indulgent lifestyles of the aristocracy rather than piety, morality, self-discipline, reason, and heroism (all of which can be found in the baroque).

enchanting fantasy erotic Escape Boucher, Venus Consoling Love, 1751

Source: Fragonard’s ‘The Swing’   Here you see pretty pink nudes in seductive poses earning Fragonard great success because he did not want to pain from life, saying that it was too green and badly lit. This is his best known work where a girl on a swing flirtatiously kicks off a satin slipper while an admirer below peeks up her lacy petticoats.

Pleasure Flirtatious Jean-Honoré Fragonard

Vigée LeBrun, Marie Antoinette, 1788 During this era, you have influential female rulers and figures who have discussions in the salons and who rule entire states (Catherine the Great, Maria Theresa of Austria, Marie Antoinette, etc) Vigée LeBrun, Marie Antoinette, 1788

Interior design Rococo art was mostly used within the home and acted as interior design: Gilded woodwork Painted panels Enormous wall mirrors Richly carved furniture Gobelin (woven) upholstery Clothing, silverwork and china was overwrought with curlicues as well as flowers, shells and leaves

Interior Design

A conversation in the salon of Mme. Geoffrin, 1755