ROCOCO (week 9)

• Rococo

  From the French words "rocaille" and "cocaille" meaning rockwork and shell work
• Rococo style

  • Flourished throughout Europe during 18th century until the French Revolution
  • Born in Paris, coincided with the reign of Louis XV (1723-74)
  • By 1760, considered outmoded in France but was in vogue until the end of the century for luxurious castles and churches throughout Germany, Austria and Central Europe
  • Spread from France to Germany, more popular with Catholics than Protestants
  • Less well received in other European countries like England, Spain and even Italy
• Rococo is a reaction against the heaviness and formality of the 17th century Baroque style
• Rococo style

  A French Fine Art movement toward a lighter, more charming manner that began the end of Louis XIV's reign and quickly spread across Europe
• Rococo manner

  A reaction at all levels of society, even among kings and bishops, against the "grand manner" of art identified with the formality and rigidity of 17th century courtly life
• Rococo style was gay, elegant and refined
• Rococo

  • Primarily a form of interior decoration
  • Decorative arts were special display ground for its curvilinear and delicate ornamentation
  • Rococo art was decorative and often nonfunctional
• Rococo Style's distinguishing features

  • Flatness and lack of three-dimensionality in the decoration
  • Abundance of curved rocaille elements twisting into back-to-back curls
  • Asymmetrical design
• Characteristics of Rococo Style

  • Iridescent Pastel colors
  • Delicately curving forms
  • Dainty figures
  • Light-hearted mood
• Steps to Recognize Rococo

  1. Pastels and gold; nature inspired motifs; asymmetric; more feminine; had more curves; had a lighter, more frivolous feeling

  2. Rooms are rectangular and had flat, smooth walls; also rooms contained delicate carvings and mirrors. Gold gilding was often used.

  3. Furniture mostly used designs of sea foam and scrolls. Also they used cabriole legs for their furnishings.
• The Age of Enlightenment occurred in different areas almost simultaneously
• The Age of Enlightenment

  Thought to be an age of reasoning, started around the beginning of the eighteenth century or the middle of the seventeenth century, a big change in culture
• Figures of the Age of Enlightenment

  • Voltaire
  • Isaac Newton
  • Edmun Halley
• The Regency (1715-1723)


  1. King Louis XIV died

  2. Appointed a Regency Council with his nephew as head because successor, King Louis XV was only 5

  3. The Regent, The Duke of Orleans, asked for more power from the Parliament

  4. The Parliament granted it to him in exchange for remonstrance
• The Regent, Duke of Orleans


  Considered to be selfish and vain, a very "party" person, acted in plays, composed an opera, was an engraver and a gifted painter, opposed censorship of books, formed an alliance with England, Austria, and the Netherlands
• King Louis XV (1723-1774)


  1. Started his reign at age 13

  2. Was married to the daughter of the former King of Poland

  3. Had many mistresses, among them, the most famous was Madame de Pompadour

  4. Had a trustworthy minister, Cardinal de Fleur

  5. Was very timid, but also very intelligent, had a spy network

  6. During his reign, France was in the War of Austrian Succession and the Seven Years of War

  7. He died of a sickness at the year 1774
• Madame de Pompadour


  A very important figure in the support of Rococo style, took an active role in promoting artistic advancement, pastel colors were introduced, asked Francois Bucher to make her portrait and to do other paintings to complement the interior
• The French Revolution (1789-1799) started because of the continual ignorance of the monarchy, the time of the "guillotine", said to be a very bloodthirsty period
• Rococo did not concentrate much on the exteriors of buildings; instead they chose to focus more on the inside
• Rococo

  Reversal of the feeling of Baroque
• Rococo Architecture

  • Light and airy
  • Intimate and delicate
  • Fanciful
  • Favorite motif - the cockleshell
• The exterior of the Petit Trianon château is simple and elegant, architecturally correct, and highly original
• The Petit Trianon was used as a private refuge from the formality of the courts
• German Rococo

  • Took a more fanciful and wayward turn, with greater emphasis on forms derived from nature
  • The baroque style in Germany was already much freer than in France, it needed only a fairly small adjustment in scale, pace, and mood to turn baroque decorative forms into rococo ones
• The name "Sans Souci" of the palace emphasises that it was a place for relaxation rather than a seat of power
• Rococo was never widely adopted as an architectural style in England, although its influence was strongly felt in such areas as silverwork, porcelain, and silks
• Thomas Chippendale transformed English furniture design through his adaptation and refinement of the Rococo style
• Of all the European countries which had adopted or contributed to the baroque style, England was the one which paid least attention to the Rococo
• Rococo Art

  • Playful, superficial, alive with energy
  • Gilded woodwork, painted panels, enormous wall mirrors
  • Sinuous S- and C- curves, arabesques, ribbonlike scrolls
  • Light, graceful, delicate
  • White, silver, gold, light pinks, blues, greens
• New ideas about human existence were introduced and Rococo art is the visual representation of the optimism people felt in response to that
• Rococo art works often depict themes of love, classical myths, youth, and playfulness, happiness
• Rococo Sculpture

  • Main material: Porcelain
  • Asymmetry, curves, and happy, frivolous feeling
• Etienne-Maurice Falconet

  Widely considered to be the best representative of Rococo style, patronized by Mme de Pompadour, designed for the Sevre porcelain factory, best known for his small sculptures on mythological and genre themes
• Franz Anton Bustelli

  Recognized for the excellence of his work in the light, asymmetric, lavishly decorated Rococo style, characterized by graceful lines, the effective use of rich colours on milky-white porcelain, and a respect for the limitations of his medium, subjects included the commedia dell'arte, Chinese figures, cupid-like children, and more
• Rococo Painting

  • Light-hearted depiction of domestic life in the upper class home
  • Elegantly dressed aristocrats at play, usually in pastoral landscapes
  • Courting, beauty, romance, fun, playfulness and sexual symbols
  • Mythological themes
  • Pastel Colours
  • Cherubs hovering around the painting – chubby, nude male babies with wings
• Fete Galante

  18th century French style of painting that depicts the aristocracy walking through a forested landscape
• François Boucher

  A proponent of Rococo taste, considered to be the first great Rococo painter who influenced later Rococo masters such as Boucher and Fragonard, a court portrait painter supported by Madame de Pompadour, known for his idyllic and voluptuous paintings on classical themes, painted many erotic types of paintings, his style was artificial in the extreme, he refused to paint from life, his pretty pink nudes in seductive poses earned him great success among the decadent aristocracy
• Jean-Antoine Watteau

  A French painter, brief career spurred the revival of interest in colour and movement, started out with reproductions of well known paintings, a painter of the joyful life, delicate and brilliant landscapes
• François Boucher

  Known for his idyllic and voluptuous paintings on classical themes, decorative allegories representing the arts or pastoral occupations
• Boucher's style was artificial in the extreme