Rococo

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Rococo

• 1700-1760

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Background

• Grew out of Baroque movement
• Highly decorativebuilding upon the lavish use of
  expensive materials found in Baroquebronze,
  marble etc
• Dominant center is France
• Louis the XIV is gone and Louis the XV is not as
  formalmore lighthearted
• Rococo most likely came from french word
  rocaille meaning rock and shell garden
  ornamentation
• Beauty and whimsy over intellect
• Themes Romance, mythology, everyday life for
  aristocracy, religion, history, fantasy

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Characteristics

• Over the top ornamentation
• Highly gilded
• Curved, asymmetrical forms
• Graceful movement
• Delicate colors
• Feminine appeal
• Great interior embellishments
• Portraiture for rising middle class and
  aristocracy
• Use of wood then gilding for medium

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Francois Boucher (1703 - 1770)

• French Painter
• Parent is artist and taught Francois at early age
• Began artistic career as an engraver,
  meticulously copying the paintings of Watteau
• Won the prix de Rome in 1723
• Patroness in Madame de Pompadourextremely
  influential in Rococo movement
• Decorated her palace with paintings of
  mythological subjects

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Angelica and Medoro 1763oil on canvas
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Shepherd's Idyll 1768oil on canvas
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The Toilette of Venus1751oil on canvas
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Jean-honore Fragonard 1732 - 1806

• Born in France
• Studied under Boucher and in Italy
• Loved italian landscapes as subject
• Skill earned him the place as leader of Rococo
  movement
• Painting The Swing epitomizes period
• Works challenged concepts of propiety
• Died in poverty when Rococo ended and
  Neo-Classism came

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The Swing1765oil on canvas
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The Stolen Kiss 1756-61 oil on canvas
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The Love Letter1770 oil on canvas
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Jean-Antoine Watteau

• October 10, 1684 - July 18, 1721
• Born in Flemish town of Valenciennes, part of
  France
• Studied painting as youth
• Moved on to Paris for better training
• Initially worked as copy artist for popular dutch
  and flemish styled paintings
• Established his own sketch-like style and
  became known as one of the first Rococo artists
• It is said that he created the genre of fetes
  galantes scenes of bucolic idyllic charm in
  a theatrical manner

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Fêtes galantes oil on canvas
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The Bird Nester1710oil on canvas
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Summer 1712oil on canvas
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Etienne-maurice Falconet

• 1716 - 1791
• director of the Sevres factory from 1757 to 1766
• Moved to Russia and worked for Catherine II
• Created famous sculpture of Peter the Great in
  St. Petersburg 1782

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Milone de Cotrone 1754 Marble
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L'Amour menaçant 1757
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Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli 1700-1771

• Italian born,
• Russian naturalized
• Father a sculptor
• First traveled to Russia with father
• Later, appointed senior court architect

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Winter Palace
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Catherine Palace Russia
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Unknown French, about 1720 - 1725 Gilt bronze,
with a core of oak
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Resources

• http//wwar.com/masters/movements/rococo.html
• http//www.jean-antoine-watteau.org/
• http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francesco_Bartolomeo_
  Rastrelli

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Critique Wieskirche Church in Bavaria
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Comparative summary
Two Court Ladies Out Shooting with Their Retinue
in a Wooded River Landscape   by Amigoni Jacopo
The Village Fête Peter Paul Rubens