Richard Ceballos
March 11, 2009
Unit 19-Rococo Art
Rococo
Europe before 1700 to after 1750
But first... French art before Rococo and before Louis XIV
 Story of how France replaced Italy
 1661, Louis the Fourteenth becomes king of France, what ever the king likes
becomes the style of art
 Very ambitious, leading up to Louis the 14th
Figure 25-24, NICOLAS POUSSIN, Et in Arcadia Ego, ca. 1655.
 Arcadian scene, Venetian inspired
Figure 25-25, NICOLAS POUSSIN, Burial of Phocion, 1648.
 Idealized setting
Figure 25-26, CLAUDE LORRAIN, Landscape with Cattle and Peasants, 1629.
 Genre scene, atmospheric and linear perspective
Figure 25-27, LOUIS LE NAIN, Family of Country People, ca. 1640.
 Another genre painting, despite the hardship
Figure 25-28, JACQUES CALLOT, Hanging Tree, from the Miseries of War series,
1629–1633.
 A series of etchings
Figure 25-29, GEORGES DE LA TOUR, Adoration of the Shepherds, 1645–1650.
 Biblical scene as a genre painting, nothing divine about it
And then... French art before Rococo under Louis XIV
Figure 25-30, HYACINTHE RIGAUD, Louis XIV, 1701.
 Famous portrait of Louis the 14th
 Painted when he was 63, he was only 5’ 4’’, going all bald at the time, showing
off his legs
 Symbol of French monarchy on his robe
 The flow of drapery, Baroque elements, for the glory of the sun king
Figure 25-32, Aerial view (looking west) of the palace and gardens, Versailles, France,
begun 1669.
 Built the city in the middle of nowhere
 Palace, no fortification, no walls
 2100 feet long, bedroom in the center, view of the gardens
 Became the center of French monarchy, aristocracy
 Overwhelming, glorifying the sun king
Figure 25-33, JULES HARDOUIN-MANSART and CHARLES LE BRUN, Galerie des
Glaces (Hall of Mirrors), palace of Louis XIV, Versailles, France, ca. 1680.
 Big windows, big mirrors echo the windows, so do the candles
 Gardens 250 acres
 Cultural power falls into the hand of the aristocracy
 Nobles move back to Paris, the art is longer of Louis the XIV
Rococo (finally)
 Elegant design
 Pastel colors
 Light hearted, frivolous
 Glory, grandeur: OUT
 Love, ladies, seduction: IN
Figure 29-2, GERMAIN BOFFRAND, Salon de la Princesse, with painting by
CHARLES- JOSEPH NATOIRE and sculpture by J. B. LEMOINE, Hôtel de Soubise,
Paris, France, 1737–1740.
 The salon, three dimensional stucco, attached paintings
 Pinks, powder blues and greens
 Crystal, sculptures, stucco
 Paintings are going to be smaller
Figure 29-3, FRANÇOIS DE CUVILLIÉS, Hall of Mirrors, the Amalienburg,
Nymphenburg Palace Park, Munich, Germany, early 18th century.
 Meant to dazzle and impress (elegant look)
Figure 29-4, BALTHASAR NEUMANN, interior (top) and plan (bottom) of the
pilgrimage church of Vierzehnheiligen, near Staffelstein, Germany, 1743-1772.
 Weird and oval shaped church
Rococo: Key Artists of the era
 Watteau
 Francois Boucher
 Fragonard
 Clodion
 Chardin
 Elisabeth Vigee-Lebrun
Watteau
 Fete galante (festive gathering)
Figure 29-5, ANTOINE WATTEAU, L’Indifférent, ca. 1716.
 Delicate paint handling, delicate tones, fluffy aspect
 Guy gliding through the picture
Figure 29-6, ANTOINE WATTEAU, Return from Cythera, 1717.
 Depiction of a festive gathering, its frivolous
 Mirror of their own decadent life style (fantasy world for nobles)
 Cythera (island of Venus), statue of Venus
 Elegant, light-hearted, pastel, soft light
Boucher
Figure 29-7, FRANÇOIS BOUCHER, Cupid a Captive, 1754.
 Very similar palette (similar colors), Venus is teasing cupid
 Essential and earthly qualities
 Triangular composition, contrast between yellow and blue
Fragonard
 Final flowering of the pure Rococo style
Figure 29-1, JEAN-HONORÉ FRAGONARD, The Swing, 1766.
 Gentlemen at the left, he lays down
 Very nice look at her legs, a sexual aspect about the painting
 Shoe flying towards the statue of God
 This became a whole type of painting style later
Figure 29-8, GIAMBATTISTA TIEPOLO, Apotheosis of the Pisani Family, ceiling
fresco in the Villa Pisani, Stra, Italy, 1761-1762.
 Ceiling painting
Clodion
Figure 29-9, CLODION, Satyr Crowning a Bacchante, 1770.
 Made for a domestic interior, made out of Terra Cotta (cheap)
 Erotic, playful, sensual
 Scale, subject matter, material
In Light of the Enlightenment: Reaction against Rococo
 Understand the motivation of the Enlightenment and the interest in science and
the natural world and its effect on artistic expression.
 Understand the philosophical concepts of Voltaire as they relate to artistic
expression.
 Examine the early applications of technology and scientific advancements to art.
 Read textbook pages: 757-761
Reaction to Rococo
 Examine the philosophy of Jean-Jacques Rousseau, in contrast to Voltaire, his
interest in the ‘natural’ as opposed to the ‘artificial,’ and artistic expression of
these ideas.
 Understand the different styles of the “natural” in France, England, the United
States, and in Italy.
 Examine choices of ‘ordinary’ life, the natural world, and sentimentality as
subjects in art.
Chardin
Figure 29-12, JEAN-BAPTISTE- SIMÉON CHARDIN, Saying Grace, 1740.
 Showing the new morality, nothing self-indulgent
 Humble and domestic setting (anti-Rococo) nothing pastel
Figure 29-13, JEAN-BAPTISTE GREUZE, Village Bride, 1761.
 Dignity of humble folks
Elisabeth Vigee-Lebrun
Figure 29-14, ÉLISABETH LOUISE VIGÉE-LEBRUN, Self-Portrait, 1790.
 Idealization and natural
 She also painted royal paintings, like of Marie Antoinette
Figure 29-15, WILLIAM HOGARTH, Breakfast Scene, from Marriage à la Mode, ca.
1745.
 A whole satirical narrative
 Biblical paintings in the background
Figure 29-16, THOMAS GAINSBOROUGH, Mrs. Richard Brinsley Sheridan, 1787.
 Rococo style, but not the same subject matter