Ch.28 Rococo

Ch. 28 - The Rococo

French rocaille – pebble or shellBarocco – baroque

• Aristocrats parallel in the shift the Baroque to the Rococo

• Fete galante – which portrays the aristocracy in their leisurely pursuits. Paintings can be seductive

• Lavish, no straight lines in the Rococo – sophisticated and elegantly refined.

• Curves are a prominent feature in the Rococo architecture

Fragonard – The Swing -1766

Flowers and figures dominate the setting

Colors are not thick or richly painted

Made for private display

Cuvillies – Hall of Mirrors

Neumann – Church of the 14 Saints -1743

Watteau – The Return from Cythera -1717

The Enlightment

• 18th Century – revolutions erupted in France and America – ( French, American and Industrial Revolution in England all happened at the same time)

• Social and economic life dissolved. • The Enlightment was a new way to think critically about

the world. To think independent of religion, myth and tradition.

• Questioning theories, god, and now experimenting with science. Voltaire and his writings were very important

Hunter – Child in Womb - 1774

Joesph Wright of Derby – A Philosopher Giving a Lecture at a Orrery - 1763

Darby III & Pritchard – Iron Bridge at Coalbrookdale, England -1776

-Bridge made out of iron-Previous bridges made out of wood

Voltaire and Rousseau

• Voltaire believed that the salvation of humanity was in advancement of science and the improvement of society

• Rousseau said that the “arts” had corrupted humanity from its original condition. “ Nature alone must be our guide”

Greuze – The Village Bride - 1761

Vigee – Lebrun – Self Portrait 1790

Inspired by Rubens

Light Rococo touch to the coloring

Peter Paul Rubens

English Painters & The Enlightment

Hogarth – Breakfast Scene - 1745

Reaction against Rococo themes: simple, honest, unaffected, people in natural settings/jobs elimination of ornament direct plain moral genre painting lower classes, non-aristocrats portrayed

Gainsborough – Blue Boy -1779

• Influenced by Watteau – feathery light – hued landscapes

• Over 700 portraits exist • Influenced by Paul van

Dyck

Reynolds - Lord Heathfield -1787

Gainsborough – Mrs. Richard Brinsley Sheridan -1787

• BeautBeauty of the subject matches the natural surroundings- Aristocratic Rococo sophistication with naturalism

Sir Joshua Reynolds – Lord Heathfield - 1787

-Ruddy English Officer-Defended the great rock against the -Spanish and the French, earned the a huge Key to the a fortress as a victory-Hands have simple gestures

Colonial America

• Neoclassicism • - Neoclassicism inspired by the unearthing of the ruins at

Pompeii and books of Johann Winckelmann (first art history book) in 1764

• Classical allusions ( with contemporary portraits)• 18th century – Industrial Revolution • Enlightment brings on rejection of royal & aristocratic

authority• Classical Training at academies around Europe and the US

Benjamin West – The Death of General Wolfe - 1771

Copley – Portrait of Paul Revere -1768

Neoclassicism – late 1700s

• Renewed interest in classical antiquity• Fascination with Greek and Roman was

widespread ( affected fashion and interior decoration)

Kauffmann- Cornelia Presenting Her Children as Her Treasures -1875

• Exemplum virtutis

• Roman setting

David – Oath of the Horatti - 1784

-Story of three Roman Brothers ( the Horatti who do battle with the other brothers the Curiatti)

-Exemplum virtutis-Tripartite composition

David – The Death of Marat -1793

David – The Coronation of Napoleon - 1805

Jefferson – Monticello -1770

Symmetrical interior designTall French doors and windowsInspired by Roman ruins in France

Pauline Borghese as Venus -1808