Rococo and Revolution-Ready Art Notes
Discovering Art History chapter 11.5, pages 364-377
Time Period: 1700-1800
The Rococo in Europe
Key Ideas
»Power shift from royal court to
aristocrats
»French Royal Academy dictated taste
»Traditional style
»Anatomy
»Perspective
»Male-dominated
»Playful, pastel, metallic, graceful, leafy,
delicate style
Rococo Visual Style
»Lines - s-shaped, curlicues
»Shapes - shells, leaves, plumes and
flowers
»Forms - delicate
»Textures - leafy, “rocaille”
»Colors - white, silver, gold, pastels
»Style - light, graceful
»Mood - playful, superficial, “pop”
Vocabulary
Academy
Aristocracy
Bourgeoisie
Fête galante
Rocaille
Jean-Antoine
Watteau, The Gamut
of Love, 1717, oil on
canvas, 20x23 ¼ “,
The National Gallery,
London, England.
(p364-365)
French Rococo Art to Know
Francois Boucher,
Jean-Honoré
The Fountain of Love Fragonard, The
(The Pastoral Scene), Swing, 1766, oil on
1748, oil on canvas,
canvas, Wallace
116 ¼”x 133”, J. Paul Collection, London,
Getty Museum,
England.
Malibu, CA, USA.
(p366)
Marie-LouiseÉlisabeth VigéeLebrun, Self-Portrait
in a Straw Hat, 1782,
oil on canvas,
National Gallery,
London, England.
William Hogarth, Marriage à
la Mode, 1745, oil on canvas,
27 ½ x 35 ½ “, National
Gallery, London, England.
The Marriage Settlement
The Tete a Tete (The
Breakfast Scene)
The Inspection
The Toilette
The Bagnio
The Lady’s Death
English Rococo Art to Know
Sir Joshua Reynolds, Lady
Sarah Bunbury Sacrificing to
the Graces, 1765, oil on
canvas, 9 ¾ x 59 ¾ in., Art
Institute of Chicago, IL, USA.
(p372)
Thomas Gainsborough, Blue
Boy, 1770, oil on canvas, 70 x
44”, Huntington Library, San
Marino, California, USA.
Revolution-Ready in America
Key Ideas
•Art considered “unessential” to the nation
•Artists considered “little better than sign painters”
•Wealthy Americans preferred European paintings over American work
•Art supplies were expensive in America
therefore •American artists left for Europe as soon as they could afford the trip to study
and gain credentials and clients
Vocabulary
Limners
American Revolution Ready Art to Know
John Singleton
Benjamin West, The
Gilbert Stuart, The
Copley, Paul Revere, Death of General
Athenaeum Portraits
1768-1770, oil on
Wolfe, 1770, oil on
of George and
canvas, 35 x 28 ¼”,
canvas, 60 3/5 x 83
Martha Washington,
Museum of Fine Arts, 4/5”, National
1796, oil on canvas,
Boston, MA, USA..
Gallery of Canada,
47 3/4x 37”, shared
(p374)
Ottawa, Canada.
between National
(p375)
Portrait Gallery,
Smithsonian,
Washington DC and
Museum of Fine Arts,
Boston, MA.
Joshua Johnson,
Portrait of a Man, c.
1805, oil on canvas,
28 x 22”, Bowdoin
College Museum of
Art, Brunswick, ME,
USA. (p376)