While the heavy and dramatic Baroque movement faded across Europe in the early eighteenth century, the Rococo artistic style was developing in France under the reign of Louis XV. It lasted through the beginning of Louis XVI’s rule in France, waxing and waning slightly later throughout the rest of Europe as Neoclassicism took hold. Although Rococo shells, scrolls and arabesques appeared first in the palaces of French royalty,the decline of absolutism that held the royalty together inspired artistic developments in the Rococo period. The unsettling ideas of John Locke and his ilk had begun to challenge the certainty and order of absolutism; this fidgeting of the intellectual community helped engender new artistic ideas as well. Lightness distinct from the Baroque period, an emphasis on natural curves, patterns, asymmetric design, a playful attitude, the theme of the return to nature, and an abundance of abstract foliage all characterize the Rococo style. Contemporaries called it “modern style” to contrast with Baroque (Pignatti 10). For all these traits, however, it maintained the habit of excess in the upper classes of France and the many countries that sought to emulate its court.
As art scholar Terisio Pignatti notes, although the term Rococo cannot encompass all the results of the “intense creativity both in spiritual and in practical matters” throughout Europe during the first half of the 18th century, it does include a vast development of “similar imaginations… in similar directions” in art in that period on the continent (Pignatti 7 – 8). In architecture, interior design, and paintings these elements appeared first in France, especially at Versailles and other royal chateaux that were built, renovated, decorated, and furnished at the time. French painters Antoine Watteau, known for his depictions of pastoral scenes, and François Boucher, a favorite of the king’s mistress, Madame de Pompadour, were especially known for their work in the Rococo style. Giovanni Pellegrini and Giovanni Tiepolo of Venice were renowned for their paintings and frescos, as well.
Boucher’s Diana Resting exemplifies many aspects of Rococo art, with its lightness and asymmetry. For a more complete idea of Rococo art, however, a look at the architecture is extremely important. You can check http://www.pitt.edu/~tokerism/0040/rococo.html for a few examples.
Work Cited:
Pignatti, Terisio. The Age of Rococo. London: Hamlyn, 1969. Print.
Work Consulted:
Kimball, Fiske. The Creation of the Rococo. New York: W.W. Norton, 1964. Print.
