AP Art History Unit Sheet – Chapter 26: Rococo and Neoclassicism Works of Art Artist Medium Date Page 26‐1: A Philosopher Giving a Lecture at the Orrery 26‐3: Hall of Mirrors, Amalienburg, Munich 26‐7: Return to Cythera Music Party 26‐9: The Swing 26‐10: Apotheosis of the Pisani Family 26‐15: Self Portraits 26‐17: Breakfast Scene, Marriage a la Mode 26‐18: Mrs. Richard Brinsley Sheridan 26‐19: Lord Heathfield 26‐20: Death of General Wolfe 26‐21: Paul Revere 26‐24: Cornelia Presenting to Her Children as Her Treasures 26‐25: Oath of the Horatii 25‐26: Death of Marat 26‐28: Chiswick House 26‐30: Monticello 26‐32: Portrait of George Washington Wright
de Cuvillies Watteau
Fragonard Tiepolo Vigee‐Lebrun
Hogarth
Gainsborough
Reynolds
West
Copley
Kaufmann
David
David
Boyle and Kent
Jefferson
Houdon
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ca. 1763‐1765
Early 18th Century
1717 1766 1761‐1762
1790 ca. 1745
1787 1787 1770 ca. 1768‐1770
1785 1784 1793 Begun 1725
1770‐1806
1792 Preview: The 18th century in Europe and America is characterized by three major cultural developments: the Rococo style, the Enlightenment, and Neoclassicism. Each of these developments was linked to socio‐political change and each generated distinct artistic forms. In France, the grand palace‐based culture of the preceding century shifted to more intimate gatherings in the townhouses of Paris, which were decorated in the elegant and refined Rococo style. The Rococo painter Antoine Watteau depicted French high society in light colors and delicate lines. The Enlightenment was the primary philosophical development of the 18th century, and the critical thinking it promoted was a driving factor in the French and American Revolutions late in the century. Enlightenment thinking emphasized scientific empiricism and the doctrine of progress, and developed in tandem with the Industrial Revolution that transformed the social and economic landscapes of Europe and America. Also with the Enlightenment came an emphasis on Humanism that inspired countless travelers to embark on Grand Tours of Italy to rediscover the art and culture of Classical Antiquity and the Renaissance. Interest in the classical past spurred excavations at Herculaneum and Pompeii, which in turn gave rise to Neoclassicism, a movement in art and architecture that revives classical forms and themes. Jacques‐Louis David became the leading French Neoclassical painter of the age, while in England, Richard Boyle’s Chiswick House was inspired by Ancient Roman and Renaissance architecture. In the United States, Thomas Jefferson designed Monticello and the University of Virginia in the Neoclassical style, which he considered the most appropriate representation of the civic ideals of the new American republic. Context – History: 18th Century in Northern Europe 1. The Enlightenment – great advances in the pure and natural sciences; the decline of the Church 2. Beginning of democratic movements – growing democratic movements and revolutions 3. Decline of the Monarchies – French Revolution of 1789 and the decline of absolute monarchies in Europe 4. Beginnings of the Industrial Revolution – begins with the invention of the steam engine and electricity 5. Exploration of the new world – and the emergence of Britain and the dominant maritime power 6. Colonialism – the beginning of the colonization of Africa, India, and the South Seas 7. New archeological Discoveries – Herculaneum (1709) and Pompeii (1748) lead to Neoclassicalism 8. Rise of the Academies – theoretical writing and training of artists in Royal Academies and Societies 9. The great age of music – Handel, Bach, Mozart, Haydn Painting – 7 Subject Matters, Styles or “Sensibilities”: 1. Rococo ­ “The pursuit of happiness and the pursuit of love” Watteau Fragonard Boucher ­
Watteau – nuance of feeling, the transitory nature of happiness ­
Expressing the optimism of the Enlightenment and the pursuit of pleasure and celebration of love and a reaction to the heavy Boroque Classicalism of Versailles 2. Naturalism (the opposite of the Rococo style) ­
Genre paintings of Chardin (quiet morality) and Greuze (rural sentimentality) 3. Political Reportage – Hogarth art as a social critic – Strum and Drnag 4. Antiquarianism – Romanticized view of the past in etchings by Piranesi ­
The discovery of Herculaneum in 1709 and the discovery of Pompeii in 1748 create passionate interest ­
The writings of Winckelmann especially his “Thoughts on the Imitation of Greek Works in Painting and Sculpture” (1755) ­
The Academies, especially the Royal French Academy and the British Royal Academy AP Art History Unit Sheet – Chapter 26: Rococo and Neoclassicism ­
The Salons – yearly shows put on by the Academies, juried by senior members of the Academy, is a form of “gate keeping” for up‐coming artists and stifling innovation ­
Piranesi’s Vendute – historical renderings (prints/etchings) of ruins of Rome and Paestum for foreign aristocratic tourists wanting to take back souvenir from their “Grand Tour” with attending implications of the passing of time The Picturesque – Grand Tour paintings – Views of Venice by Canaletto, Etchings by Piranesi ­
The Grand Tour for aristocrats began in Paris, then the south of France, Italy, ending in Rome ­
Piranesi’s renderings (etchings) of ruins with a fanciful aspect to heighten nostalgic aspect or carpriccio: architectural rendering of complete fantasy with narrative aspect The Grand Portrait Aristocratic Portraiture – in the grand manner Gainsborough Reynolds Copley History Painting – Copley Benjamin West, a new kind of history being told The Enlightenment – Joseph Wright of Derby, Theonders of science and the universe 5.
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Rococo Vocabulary: rococo, fete galante, melodious flow, complex symmetries, chinoiserie , “sensibility”, picturesque, escapism Notes from Kenneth Clark (Civilization Series) The pursuit of happiness and the pursuit of love The Rococo Style “…the musical interval in which life itself is conceived as a kind of listening.” ­Kenneth Clark The Seminal idea of Rococo art: ‐
Visual pleasure (a reaction to the heavy classicism of Versailles) ‐
expressing the optimism of the Enlightenment and the pursuit of pleasure/ celebration of love The difference between Baroque art and Rococo art? ‐
Baroque are is primarily religious (context and subject matter) coming out of Southern Europe ‐
Rococo was secular in nature, originating in France The stylistic “roots” of northern Rococo architecture? ‐
Southern Baroque architecture, specifically Borromini ‐
Northern European (Germanic) tradition of local craftsmanship The visual appearance of architectural interiors done in the Rococo style. ‐
Curvilinear/ undating surfaces ‐sweetness ‐lavish “decorative invention” ‐
Joyful ‐child‐like(cupids) ‐elegant ‐overdone ‐ornate ‐intricate ‐
Complex ‐decorative ‐“melodious flow” ‐delicate ‐stylized ‐optimistic The similarities between music and architecture of this period: ‐
They share optimism, joyfulness, complexity, floral lines, polyphonic rhythms ‐
“…….all art aspires to the condition of music…..” The significance of the work of Watteau? ‐
Nuance of feeling, the transitory nature of happiness‐ Watteau painted “….the musical interval in which life itself is conceived as a kind of listening” –K. Clark The 18th Century: Composers: Writers/Philosophers: History: Handel Voltaire Rousseau Diderot 1709: Discovery of Herculaneum Haydn Geothe Kant Wickelmann 1748: Discovery of Pompeii Mozart Swift Fielding Goldsmith 1789: French Revolution begins Bach Neoclassicism History: late 18th Century Europe: 1789: French Revolution begins with the First French Republic from 1792‐ 1794 1796>: Rise of Napoleon (made Emperor by 1804) and defeated at Waterloo in 1815, exiled to Alba 1830: July Revolution and overthrow of Bourbon monarchy. Louis Philippe reigns as constitutional monarch Context: 1: Neoclassicalism is a reaction against Rococo art: Rejection of art whose function was primarily to please, was decorative, escapist, romanticization of reality, bucolic, pastoral and fantasy 2: Neoclassicalism is a logical conclusion to 18th Century Naturalism: Express new sensibility in art which reflects new thinking in France of Middle class people: the nobility of work and the simple life (Rousseau); reason and moral integrity (not hedonism and luxury) (Voltaire); and edification/ content (not escape/fantasy) (Diderot) 3: Neoclassicalism is an expression of The Enlightenment (The Age of Reason) Rousseau, Locke, Diderot, Voltaire ‐
Thinking about the world, independent of religion, myth, or tradition AP Art History Unit Sheet – Chapter 26: Rococo and Neoclassicism Mankind can only find the truth by using rational thought and evidence to support it‐ Doctrine of Empiricism forms the philosophical basis of Neoclassicalism 4: Revival of interest in Ancient Greece and Rome­ Winkelmann’s writings, new discoveries of antiquity, Herculaneum, Pompeii and Paestum: Piranesi’s prints of ancient Paestum 5: The French Revolution adopts Neoclassicalism and the Greek ideal of liberty and democracy in the light of reason and in reaction to the repressive monarchy (“man is born free and everywhere he is in chains”) Propaganda: Painting was used to promote the revolutionary ideals and highest virtues of the revolution 6: Napoleon­ adopts Neoclassicalism­ painting and architecture served political agenda‐ propaganda Napoleon saw himself as the new “Caesar” of a new empire, with Paris as the new Rome architectural programs promote that grandiose self‐image‐ glorification of Napoleon in the paintings ‐