Rococo
Characteristics of
Rococo:
•According to Stokstad, Rococo is refined, fanciful, and often playful
(939).
•Rococo is characterized by pastel colors, delicately curving forms, dainty
figuresm and a light-hearted mood.
•Appeared in France around 1700, primarily as a style of interior design
as the French court moved from Versailles back to Paris and all the rich
courtiers (think entourage but incredibly wealthy) redecorated their hotels
(mansions) in the latest style of the moment.
•Paintings on canvas were used to decorate the walls.
Characteristics of
Rococo:
•According to Gardner, Rococo appeared in France around 1700, primarily as
a style of interior design (780).
•Shells and shell forms are the principal motifs in Rococo ornament
•Expect irregular painted shapes surmounted by sculpture (imagine a painted
surface with a white, sculpted putto on top).
•Painting, architecture, and sculpture will combine to form a single ensemble,
(see Francois de Cuvillies, Hall of Mirrors, the Amalienburg, Nymphenburg Palace park, Munich
Germany, early 18th century).
•Expect soft colors; themes of love and happy scenes in outdoor settings
a putto
Hall of Mirrors
Characteristics of
Rococo:
Compare the style Rococo painting and
Baroque; both these painting were made for the
French court.
Hyacinthe Rigaud
Louis XIV 1701
Baroque
Hyacinthe Rigaud
State Portrait of Louis XV
1715
Baroque moving toward Rococo; this
boy will grow up to become the man
who befriends Madame de Pompadour
and Madame du Barry
Jean-Antoine Watteau
Pilgrimage to Cythera
1718-20
Oil on canvas, 129 x 194 cm
Jean-Antoine Watteau
The Festival of Love
c. 1717 oil on canvas, 61 x 75 cm
Jean-Antoine Watteau
Diana at her Bath
1715-16
Oil on canvas, 80 x 101 cm
Jean-Antoine Watteau: the upper-class enjoys
nature while on elaborate picnics; subject matter:
fete galante (elegant outdoor entertainment)—a
subset of genre painting intended for the rich?;
Watteau seems to love “soft-focus” trees and
hazy atmospheric effects.
Watteau died when he was only thirty-seven of the same disease that
everyone in Wuthering Heights dies from…..
François Boucher
Diana Resting after her Bath
1742
Oil on canvas, 56 x 73 cm
François Boucher
Diana Resting after the Hunt
Oil on canvas, 56 x 73 cm
François Boucher
The Toilet of Venus
1751
Oil on canvas, 108,3 x 85,1 cm
This painting and its pendant, Venus
Consoling Love (National Gallery of
Art, Washington, D.C.), were
commissioned by Madame de
Pompadour, mistress of Louis XV, for
her Château de Bellevue, near Paris.
Madame de Pompadour
had played the title role in
La Toilette de Vénus
staged at Versailles in
1750. (REALLY!!!?—
those crazy 18th century French
courtiers….)
From http://www.metmuseum.org
François Boucher
Portrait of Marquise de
Pompadour
1759
François Boucher
•moves the viewer closer to the subject;
•the content of many of his works are based on
mythological scenes;
•Madame du Pompadour was François Boucher’s
major patron; Pompadour was an amateur artist and
took lessons from Boucher;
•Boucher worked from 1735 on (and on….) decorating the
royal palaces at Versailles and Fontainebleau; he was
a court painter (which would be the opposite of selfexpression—the opposite of Northern Song or the
literati).
Jean-Honoré Fragonard
The Meeting
1773
Oil on canvas, 318 x 244
cm
Jean-Honoré Fragonard
The Musical Contest
c. 1754 oil on canvas
Jean-Honoré Fragonard
The Love Letter
1770s
Oil on canvas
Jean-Honoré Fragonard
The Stolen Kiss
1787-89
oil on canvas
Jean-Honoré Fragonard
The Swing
1767
Oil on canvas
Jean-Honoré Fragonard was an apprentice /assistant to
Boucher.
Notice that the content of Fragonard’s works seems to be
“interrupted” or “frozen” moments between lovers.
Because it seems as if time has suddenly been stopped in
his paintings, the paintings have a tremendous immediacy.
His patron was originally Madame du Barry (the last
mistress of Louis XV), but unfortunately, du Barry decided
the Rococo style was “over” and Neoclassicism was the
new “hot” thing.
Jean-Baptiste-Siméon
Chardin
La Gouvernante (The
Governess)
1739
Oil on canvas
This type of work is called
a genre painting.
Johannes Vermeer
The Milkmaid
c. 1658
Oil on canvas, 45,5 x 41 cm
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam
In many ways, Vermeer’s work
can be read as genre painting.
However, Vermeer’s use of
light and his incredibly
sculptural forms (think Piero
della Francesca) elevate his
work beyond the actual
subject….
Jean-Baptiste-Siméon
Chardin
Servant Returning from the
Market (La Pourvoyeuse)
1738
Oil on canvas
Jean-Baptiste-Siméon
Chardin
The Attentive Nurse
c. 1738
Oil on canvas
Jean-Baptiste-Siméon
Chardin
The Hard-working Mother
1740
Oil on canvas
Supplement your book knowledge with visual knowledge…
Marie Antoinette (2006) PG-13 Sofia Coppola directs a stylized portrait of Marie
Antoinette (Kirsten Dunst), the naive Austrian princess who married Louis XVI (Jason
Schwartzman) to become queen of France at age 19. The film explores the effects of a
luxurious yet terribly confining lifestyle on the young queen. Her resulting youthful
indiscretion and frivolity ultimately led to her undoing. A Cannes Golden Palm
nominee, this biopic also took Oscar honors for costume design.
That’s the only one I can recommend….the others are rated “R”…..