18th C Rococo Art Once More Valuable Than Gold Now Seen as Kitch and Guady Why

The Rococo style of decorative art, compages, interior pattern, sculpture, and painting originated in early 18th century Paris. This exuberant and elegant movement spread throughout France and other European countries similar Austria and Deutschland. The Rococo manner is luxurious, extravagant, and light-hearted.

Tabular array of Contents

• 1 A Cursory Introduction to the Rococo Way
  • 1.i Origins of the Term Rococo
• 2 The History of the Rococo Style
  • ii.1 French Rococo
  • 2.2 Italian Rococo
  • ii.3 Southern German Rococo
  • 2.4 British Rococo
• 3 The Fine art and Design of the Rococo Period
  • 3.1 Rococo Interior Blueprint
  • 3.2 Rococo Furniture
  • iii.3 Rococo Architecture: Baroque vs. Rococo
  • 3.4 Rococo Painting
  • 3.5 Rococo Sculpture
  • 3.half dozen Rococo Porcelain
  • 3.seven Rococo Music
  • three.8 Rococo Fashion
• four The Gradual Turn down of the Rococo Style
• 5 Famous Rococo Artists
  • 5.1 Francois Boucher (1703-1770)
  • 5.2 Jean-Honore Fragonard (1732-1806)
  • five.3 Jean-Antoine Watteau (1684-1721)
  • 5.4 Elisabeth Louise Vigee le Brun (1755-1842)
  • 5.5 Giovanni Battista Tiepolo (1696-1770)
  • 5.6 Giovani Antonio Canal (1697-1768)
  • 5.seven Thomas Gainsborough (1727-1788)

A Cursory Introduction to the Rococo Style

In terms of a Rococo definition, if there was ever an aristocratic French art style, Rococo is information technology. Rococo designs were incredibly theatrical and ornamental, designed to impress and communicate wealth. Characterized by lightness, curving forms, asymmetrical values, nature-inspired motifs, and playful themes, the Rococo style is truly unique.

The style of the Rococo catamenia has a strong sense of whimsy. Compared to the Baroque style that preceded information technology, the Rococo style had a much lighter colour palette. Lightness and elegance permeate Rococo design with pastel colors, a lot of gilded, and ivory white. Many Rococo interior designers used mirrors to create a sense of lightness and spaciousness.

Curving forms were a prominent characteristic of Rococo design, with swirling scrolls and curvy furniture. Counter-curves and undulations mirrored natural forms, like plants and seashells. Curvacious designs incorporated serpentine lines or sinuous lines that curved in different directions, much like constitute vines.

One of the distinguishing elements of the Rococo menstruum is the lack of precise rest in ornamental features. The disproportion is both within the decoration and within a piece of furniture or architecture as a whole. Furniture and architectural designs often incorporated asymmetrical C-shaped volutes. Asymmetrical values also included the representation of seashells and other nature-inspired shapes. Pieces of Rococo article of furniture, like cabinets and couches, oftentimes had unbalanced decorative elements. Despite the lack of residual in the decoration, the overall sense of rest remains.

A particularly prominent decorative motif used throughout Rococo painting, sculpture, and interior design is nature-inspired. Many of the curved shapes were based on organic shapes like waves, seashells, and other sea-themed motifs. Foliage motifs were as well common, with curling vine leaves like stylized acanthus fronds. Although organic in inspiration, these shapes were ofttimes exaggerated and aureate.

Playful and lighthearted themes are prominent features of Rococo painting and sculpture. Often, Rococo paintings were based around themes of love, playfulness, and nature. Classical myths were also pop themes amid Rococo artists. The popular Rococo themes are another example of how Rococo design rejected the traditions of the Baroque style.

Iii ornamental motifs in Rococo style, 1889; Jules Lachaise, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

Origins of the Term Rococo

The Rococo definition was first used humorously as a variation of the French give-and-take rocaille, a method of decorating grottos and fountains with seashells, pebbles, and cement. Towards the end of the 17th century, people began to employ this term to describe a decorative motif that emerged in the belatedly Louis 14 fashion. This ornamental motif featured a seashell intertwined with the leaves of the acanthus plant.

The first time the term rocaille was used to designate a particular manner was in 1736 by jeweler and designer Jean Mondon. Mondon published a itemize of designs for furniture and other decorative ornaments in the rocaille style. These designs for furniture, decorative doorways, and wall panels featured curved shells combined with twisting vines or palm leaves.

In 1825, near a century later, the term Rococo was printed for the first fourth dimension. In this context, the Rococo term described the old-fashioned style of the previous century. The term was used throughout the 19th century to describe architecture, music, sculpture, and design that was overly ornamental. Since and so, fine art historians have accepted the Rococo term as the style of 18th-century European art.

Despite the debate surrounding the historical significance of the Rococo style, it is acknowledged as a distinct mode of European pattern.

The History of the Rococo Fashion

The Rococo style began with interior design and furniture. As a reaction to the strict rigidity of the Bizarre era, Rococo design was excessively ornamental. Sometimes fine art historians refer to the Rococo period as Late Bizarre, which began in France every bit a reaction to the formal manner of Louis Xiv. When the reign of Louis Xiv ended, the aloof and wealthy returned to Paris. In that location, they began to decorate their houses in the Rococo style. Interior designers, engravers, and painters, including Juste-Aurele Meissonier, Nicolas Pineau, Pierre Le Pautre, and Jean Berain, developed a more intimate ornament style for the houses of nobles.

French Rococo

Rococo flourished in France between 1723 and 1759. French Rococo design was most prominent in salons. The salon was a new style of room that was designed to entertain and impress guests. At the Parisian Hotel de Soubise, the Princess salon is a perfect case of Rococo salons.

Interior of the salon de la princesse , in the Hôtel de Soubise, Paris; NonOmnisMoriar, CC By-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Exceptional artistry was a defining cistron of the French Rococo manner, peculiarly in the frames of paintings and mirrors. These designs ofttimes featured intertwined plant forms sculpted in plaster and gilded. These sinuous curves and nature-inspired designs were likewise popular in furniture design. Leading French furnishers like Charles Cressent and Meissonier were proponents of the Rococo style.

The Rococo fashion dominated French fine art and design until the middle of the 18th century, when the discoveries of Roman antiquities steered French compages towards neo-classical designs.

Italian Rococo

The Rococo style was particularly exuberant in Italian republic. Venice was the epicenter of Italian Rococo. Italian Rococo designs like the Venetian commodes used the aforementioned ornamental ornament and curving lines equally the French rocaille, but with a picayune extra. Many Venetian pieces were painted with flowers, landscapes, or scenes from famous painters. Chinoiserie, or the European imitation of Chinese and other East Asian artistic traditions, was also pop in Italian Rococo.

Giovanni Battista Tiepolo was a notable decorative painter from the Italian Rococo period. Tiepolo painted ceilings and murals of palazzos and churches. During the 1750s, Tiepolo traveled to Federal republic of germany with his son, and they decorated the Wurzburg Residence ceilings. Another famed Italian Rococo painter was Giovanni Battista Crosato. Crosato is all-time known for the quadrature style painting of the Ca Rezzonico ballroom ceiling.

Tiepolo's ceiling fresco at the Wurzburg Residence; Myriam Thyes, CC By-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Venetian glassware was a significant part of the Italian Rococo menses. It was during this time that colored and often engraved Murano glass flourished. Glassworks like mirrors with ornate frames and multicolored chandeliers were exported throughout Europe.

Southern German Rococo

It was in Southern Germany and Austria that the Rococo style reached its acme. The published works of French architects and designers introduced the Rococo manner to Frg, and it went on to dominate German language art and design between the 1730s and the 1770s. While German language designers and architects plant inspiration in French architects like Germain Boffrand and interior designers similar Giles-Marie Oppenordt, German Rococo architecture and design rose to new heights.

The Rococo way of architecture was adopted by German architects who loaded it with even more than ornate decoration and made it far more disproportionate. The Rococo decorative style still dominates German churches today. Architects congenital curves and counter-curves out of molding, creating patterns that twisted and turned and walls and ceilings without correct angles. A particularly popular motif was stucco foliage that appeared to pitter-patter up the walls and across the ceiling. This ornate decoration was often silvered or gilded, creating a stunning contrast with the pale pastel or white walls.

The kickoff building to exist synthetic in the Rococo manner was the Amalienburg pavilion in Munich. Belgian-born designer and architect Francois de Cuvilies was responsible for designing this building and found inspiration in the French Marly and Trianon pavilions. The Amalienburg pavilion was initially built as a hunting lodge and featured a rooftop platform for shooting pheasants. The interior featured a Hall of Mirrors created by Johann Baptiste Zimmermann. The extravagance of this building was far beyond the architecture of French Rococo.

An east view of the Amalienburg pavilion in Munich; Digital cat, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Eatables

Another exceptional example of German Rococo architecture is the Wurzburg Residence. This impressive palace had a more Baroque exterior, only the interior reflected the low-cal Rococo style. The residence was designed in consultation with French artists Robert de Cotte and Germain Boffrand and Tiepolo, the Italian Rococo painter, who created a mural above the 3-level stairway. The stairway was a primal feature of this residence, as was the stairway at the Augustusburg Palace. In the Palace, the grand stairway transported visitors up through a vision of sculpture, paintings, decoration, and ironwork.

Although the Rococo style was a secular style at its inception, the German language period saw many Rococo-manner churches. Throughout the 1740s and 1750s, Rococo architects designed several pilgrimage churches throughout Bavaria. The interiors of these churches have a distinctly Rococo style. Notable examples are Dominikus Zimmermann'south Wierskirche, which had a uncomplicated exterior with few ornaments and simple colors. Upon inbound the church building, notwithstanding, you lot are greeted with an oval-shaped deambulatory that floods the church building with low-cal. Blue and pink stucco columns in the choir contrast the white walls, and plaster angels surround the dome ceiling.

British Rococo

Although the influence of Rococo was not felt as strongly in Britain as information technology was elsewhere in Europe, British silks, porcelain, and silverwork did take some inspiration from Rococo. The theoretical foundation for Rococo dazzler was laid, in part, by William Hogarth, who argued that the South-curves and undulating lines of the Rococo were the foundations of dazzler and grace in nature and art.

The Rococo fashion took its time in arriving in England. British article of furniture had followed the Palladian neoclassical model for a long fourth dimension, nether the designer William Kent. Kent was an influential effigy who designed furniture for Lord Burlington. It was with Lord Burlington that Kent traveled to Italy between 1712 and 1720. Kent brought dorsum Palladio ideas and models and designed the article of furniture for Chiswick House, Hampton Court Palace, and Holkham Hall among others.

The appearance of Mahogany in England around 1720 was the most meaning Rococo evolution of the time. Alongside walnut wood, mahogany became popular for article of furniture. It was piece of furniture designer Thomas Chippendale whose work was closest to the Rococo manner. The catalog of designs for chinoiserie, Rococo, and Gothic piece of furniture called the Gentleman's and Cabinet-Makers Directory, was published by Chippendale in 1754. Although Chippendale'southward piece of furniture was certainly inspired by Rococo, he did not use inlays or marquetry in his piece of furniture, unlike French designers.

Thomas Johnson was some other important effigy in British Rococo furniture. In 1761, Johnson published his own catalog of Rococo furniture designs, including furnishings based on Indian and Chinese motifs.

The Art and Design of the Rococo Menstruation

As yous have seen, there was a lot of variation in pattern within Europe. While Due south Germany cruel for Rococo compages, the English language preferred Rococo furniture. Whether information technology is painting, sculpture, furniture, or architectural blueprint, we tin can come across the distinct Rococo style.

Rococo Interior Design

Interior pattern was the spark of the Rococo menstruation. Although the Rococo manner grew to dominate painting, sculpture, and fifty-fifty music, it started as a style of interior design. While the focus of compages is typically on the external design, Rococo designers brought information technology within. The height of Rococo interior pattern lies in the salon.

Paris, Hôtel de Soubise, Bedroom of Music; Parsifall, CC Past-SA three.0, via Wikimedia Commons

What Is a Rococo Salon?

The salon, much like a parlor or living room, is a room designed to entertain and print guests. Initially designed for the wealthy aristocracy, the salon was a place to bear witness off their incredible wealth and hold intellectual conversations. At the time, enlightenment philosophy believed that external architectural environments encouraged a particular way of life.

Rococo salons were cardinal rooms decorated in the typically extravagant and luxurious Rococo style.

Salons featured the typical elaborate Rococo decorations, serpentine lines, light pastel colors, intricate patterns, disproportion, and a lot of gold. The layout of salon rooms was often asymmetrical, a type of pattern known as contraste. Sculpted forms on walls and ceilings with abstruse, leafy, and vanquish-similar textures were interior ornaments.

The Salon de Monsieur le Prince is a peculiarly famous instance. Another notable example of the Rococo salon is that by Germain Boffrand in the Parisian Hotel Soubise. These salons all have ceilings, walls, and molding with intricate decorations of Southward-curves, natural shapes, and crush forms.

Rococo Furniture

The salon was a way to reflect social status, and the piece of furniture inside the salon was another. During the Rococo period, there was an explosion in piece of furniture making. Furniture designs emphasized the lightness of the Rococo flow. Pieces of furniture were made to be physically lighter then that they could be moved effectually easily. Piece of furniture also became more delicate and refined, with thin curved tabular array legs.

Rococo piece of furniture was free-standing rather than leaning confronting the wall. This feature also helped to add lightness and versatility to a room desired by the aristocracy.

Mahogany wood became a pop wood for Rococo article of furniture because it was strong. The strength of mahogany meant furniture makers could carve dainty article of furniture that would not break. Many specialized furnishings emerged during the Rococo menstruum, including the voyeuse chair. Mirrors with ornately carved and busy frames also became increasingly popular during the Rococo era. Interior designers would utilize mirrors to enhance the sense of calorie-free and spaciousness in a room.

Small armchairs from the Lombard workshop, c. 1750, from the ballroom of the Sormani palace; Sailko, CC By 3.0, via Wikimedia Eatables

Rococo Architecture: Baroque vs. Rococo

The 18th century Rococo architecture was more svelte, lighter, and more elaborate than Bizarre styles. Although Rococo compages was like to Baroque designs in some ways, they differed significantly in others.

Baroque vs. Rococo Architectural Style

Equally with interior pattern and furniture, Rococo architecture emphasized design and form disproportion, while the opposite was true for the Baroque style. Bizarre architecture was altogether more serious, using religious themes from the protestant reformation, while Rococo architecture was more lighthearted, jocular, and secular. While Bizarre buildings were designed for great public majesty, Rococo architecture emphasized privacy.

The Rococo curves and decorative elements we see in furniture and interior decoration likewise carried over into architectural pattern. The signature Rococo colour palette of gilded, white, and pastels was likewise a meaning characteristic of Rococo architecture.

Some famous Rococo buildings include the Portuguese Queluz National Palace, the Catherine Palace in Russia, the Chinese House in Potsdam, the Falkenlust and Augustusburg Palaces, parts of the Chateau de Versailles, and the Charlottenburg Palace in Federal republic of germany. The Italian architect Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli is known for his opulent and lavish designs and worked in Russia. Philip de Lange worked in both Dutch and Danish compages, and Matthaus Daniel Poppelmann was a tardily Bizarre architect who helped with the reconstruction of the German city of Dresden.

Facade of the Catherine Palace in Pushkin, Russia; W. Bulach, CC Past-SA iv.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Rococo Painting

The delicate and light-hearted nature of Rococo pattern is perhaps near visible in the paintings of the era. Using the light Rococo palette of pastels, gold, and white, and other Rococo pattern elements similar asymmetrical curves and serpentine lines, Rococo painting is easily distinguishable. Incredible attending to particular, playful themes, and a pastel color palette are pregnant Rococo painting features.

Impeccable Attending to Detail

Inspired by artists from the Renaissance, Rococo paintings have incredible attention to detail. The French creative person Francois Boucher is particularly famous for his item-oriented arroyo to painting. Boucher manages to capture the minute intricacies of ornate costumes and create beautifully detailed scenes.

Playful Subject Matters

Possibly the themes of Rococo paintings all-time highlight the jovial atmosphere of this fine art menstruum. Themes of youth, love, play, classical myths, idyllic landscapes, and portraits are typical of Rococo painting. The French painter Antoine Watteau is credited with making the playful Rococo subject field affair popular. Watteau is known as the father of the fete galante genre of painting festivals, garden parties, and other outdoor events. Watteau painted scenes of pastoral landscapes and whimsical people socializing. Greek goddesses, cupids, and other mythological creatures often featured, blending reality with fantasy in a playful fashion.

La Partie carrée ('The Foursome', c. 1713) by Antoine Watteau; Antoine Watteau, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The Rococo Color Palette

The colour palette of Rococo-era paintings differs significantly from that of the earlier Bizarre period. Baroque painters used deep and emotive colors, while Rococo artists like Jean-Honore Fragonard create lighthearted scenes with light pastel colors. Fragonard'due south The Swing is ane of the almost famous paintings of the Rococo catamenia. Light green swirls of leaf surround a adult female in a lite pink dress, flirtatiously flinging off her shoe every bit she swings.

The Swing (1767) past Jean-Honoré Fragonard; Jean-Honoré Fragonard, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Rococo Sculpture

The sculpture of the Rococo period was dynamic, theatrical, and colorful. A sense of movement in all directions permeates these sculptures. Sculptures were closely integrated with architecture and painting and could often be establish inside churches.

Early French Rococo sculpture is much lighter than the classical Louis XIV style. Madame de Pompadour was a patron of Rococo sculpture, and she commissioned multiple works for her gardens and chateaux. A sculpture of cupid carving his love darts out of Hercules' club is a famous Rococo sculpture by Edme Bouchardon. You tin find other examples of Rococo sculpture around Versailles fountains, similar the Fountain of Neptune by Nicolas-Sebastien Adam and Lambert-Sigisbert Adam made in 1740. Following their success, Frederick the Great invited these sculptors to create a fountain sculpture for his palace in Prussia.

Cupid (1744) by Edme Bouchardon; National Gallery of Fine art, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

Leading French sculptor Etienne-Maurice Falconet is best known for his St. Petersburg statue of Peter the Great, and he also created smaller works in terracotta or statuary for wealthy collectors. Falconet was not the only sculptor to produce smaller series of sculptures for collectors. Jean-Baptiste Pigalle, Michel Clodion, Jean-Louis Lemoyne, and Louis-Simon Boizot all created sculpture series.

Italian Antonio Corradini was i of the leading Rococo sculptors in Venice. He traveled throughout Europe, working in Leningrad for Peter the Great for a fourth dimension and in Austrian and Napalese imperial courts. Corradini'south sculptures have a more sentimental feeling to them, and he made a number of prissy sculptures of veiled women.

Rococo Porcelain

During the Rococo period, small-scale porcelain sculptures began to emerge. Initially constructed to replace the sugar sculptures on large dining tables, porcelain figures soon became popular equally decorations for mantlepieces. As the number of European porcelain factories grew throughout the 18th century, small porcelain sculptures became bachelor to middle-class people. Equally the century progressed, the sheer amount of overglaze decoration on these colorful porcelain sculptures also increased.

The Meissen porcelain factory is the oldest in Europe and remained the almost important until around 1760. Johann Joachim Kandler was the master modeler at the Meissen manufactory. Franz Anton Bustelli, a German language sculptor, worked at the Nymphenburg Porcelain Manufactory and was famous for his range of colorful figures that sold across Europe. Post-obit his example, Etienne-Maurice Falconet became the director of the Sevres Porcelain mill. Here he produced various small-scale-scale sculptures in series on themes of lightheartedness and love.

Listeners at the Well (1756) past Franz Anton Bustelli; Rufus46, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Eatables

Rococo Music

Although Rococo music is not as well known as the later Classical and earlier Baroque forms, information technology has a place in musical history. The Rococo music style, similar much of the Rococo motility, adult out of the Baroque era. In French republic, style galant, or the elegant style of music, was intimate music that was light, refined, and elaborate. Influential French Rococo composers include Louis-Claude Daquin, Jean Philippe Rameau, and Franscois Couperin. In Germany, the two sons of Johann Sebastian Bach, Johann Christian Bach and Carl Philip Emanuel Bach pioneered Rococo music or the "sensitive style".

The second one-half of the 18th century saw a backlash against the overuse of decoration and ornament in the Rococo manner. Christoph Willibald Gluck led this reactionary movement which eventually became the Classical style. The Variations on a Rococo Theme by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky was composed in the style of Rococo, although it was non written during the Rococo era.

Rococo Fashion

The extravagance, refinement, ornamentation, and elegance of the Rococo style were not lost in Rococo fashion. Women'southward way during the 18th century was sophisticated and highly ornate in truthful Rococo style. Beginning in the Royal Courtroom, these fashions soon spread to the cafés and salons of the bourgeoisie.

Towards the end of Louis XIV's reign, a flowing gown known as the robe volante became popular. A bodice, rounded petticoat, and large pleats flowing down the back were the prominent features of this apparel. A dark and rich color palette of fabrics accompanied heavy and bold design features. Following the death of Rex Louis Fourteen, fashion styles began to change with the Rococo trends.

Rococo mode was more frivolous, much lighter, and more revealing. A pastel color palette, an overabundance of bows, lace, frills, ruffles, and a lowcut neckline characterized Rococo women's style. A new gown, known as the robe a la Francaise had a tight bodice and usually a large number of ribbon bows downwards the forepart. This dress had wide panniers and was busy with lavish quantities of flowers, lace, and ribbon. Jean-Antoine Watteau, the painter who captures intricate detailing of stitching, lace, and other trimmings on ornate gowns, was the inspiration for Watteau pleats.

Woman's robe à la françaisdue east, England, circa 1765. Silk satin with weft-float patterning and silk passementerie; Los Angeles Canton Museum of Art, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Around 1718, the mantua and pannier became fashionable. These were wide hoops that extended the hips sideways, worn underneath the dress. These items soon became essential staples in Rococo mode. The iconic look of the Rococo era is the dress with extended hips and excessive amounts of decoration. Special occasions called for very wide panniers, some reaching up to 16 feet in diameter. Smaller hoops were for everyday clothing.

This way of garment originated in 17th century Spain and was initially designed to hide a meaning stomach.

The Gilt historic period of Rococo fashion was around 1745 when a more oriental and exotic culture known as a la turque became popular in French republic. Madame de Pompadour was integral in promoting this style when she commissioned a painting of herself equally a Turkish Sultana by Charles Andre Van Loo. The 1760s saw a less formal fashion style emerge. The polonaise, a shorter dress inspired by Smoothen fashions, made the ankles and underskirt visible. The polonaise apparel too allowed women to motility around with significantly more ease.

The robe a l'anglais, or English dress, was another popular style in the latter half of the 18th century. This wearing apparel included more masculine fashion elements like long sleeves, broad lapels, and a short jacket. A full brim with a small train, but no panniers, a snug bodice, and a minor lace kerchief around the cervix completed the ensemble. A redingote, a combination of an overcoat and a greatcoat was some other new Rococo fashion item.

In addition to the multitude of unlike garments, accessories were an essential function of Rococo style in the 18th century. Accessories like necklaces and jewelry added to the opulence and decadent ornament on the gowns. Women in short sleeves were required to vesture gloves at official ceremonies.

The Gradual Decline of the Rococo Fashion

It was not long until the Rococo accent on gallantry and decorative mythology inspired a reaction. The French University started didactics a more Classical mode of art and De Troy, a prominent Classical artist, became the Academy's director in 1738. Although the Rococo period was in refuse in France, it continued to flourish in Austria and Germany.

Madame de Pompadour was a prominent and influential figure throughout the 18th century, promoting Rococo art and fashion, and contributing to its pass up. In 1750, Madame de Pompadour sent her brother and several artists, including the architect Soufflot and engraver Charles-Nicolas Cochin, on a ii-year trip to report Italian archeological and creative developments. This group returned passionate about Classicism and Abel-Francious Poisson de Vandieres, Madame de Pompadour's brother, became a Marquis.

La Marquise de Pompadour en jardinière (c. 1754-1755) past Charles-André van Loo; Charles-André van Loo, Public domain, via Wikimedia Eatables

Vandieres was besides made the managing director-full general for the Male monarch's buildings and he was responsible for shifting French architecture towards the neoclassical. Cochin, an influential art critic denounced the style of Boucher, which he chosen petit style. Rather, Cochin called for a grander style of painting and architecture that emphasized dignity and classical antiquity.

Jacques-Francois Blondel and Voltair added their voices to the resounding criticisms of the superficial nature of Rococo art. The 1760s hailed the beginning of the end for the Rococo style, every bit artists began calling for art with purpose and value. Rococo had officially passed away by 1785 and was replaced with Neoclassicism.

The ridicule of Rococo as superficial and frivolous spread to Germany past the terminate of the 18th century. Although Rococo managed to remain pop in Italian republic and certain German states, it was thoroughly wiped out by the Empire Manner second wave of Neoclassicism.

Famous Rococo Artists

There were so many painters, architects, and sculptors to emerge during the Rococo menstruum. Of the many, there are a few that have fabricated lasting impressions on the world of decorative art, including Francois Boucher, Elisabeth Louise Vigee le Brun, and Giovanni Battista Tiepolo.

Francois Boucher (1703-1770)

Of all the prominent Rococo artists, Boucher certainly deserves a place on this list. Famous for his portrayals of aboriginal Roman and Greek mythologies, Boucher's paintings shaped the grade of the Rococo style. As a young fine art student, Boucher studied during the late Baroque flow and traveled to Italia. He likewise studied the Dutch landscape style.

Boucher became very famous among French artists in his day. The voluptuous way in which Boucher portrayed figures in his paintings earned him a significant amount of notoriety. Many of Boucher's paintings featured shepherds and various forms of livestock in pastoral scenes. Of his works, the Triumph of Venus (1740) is thought to be his most famous, but information technology is in close contention with The Breakfast (1739) and The Grape Eaters (1749).

The Triumph of Venus(1740) by François Boucher; François Boucher, Public domain, via Wikimedia Eatables

Jean-Honore Fragonard (1732-1806)

French Rococo printmaker and painter Jean-Honore Fragonard is ane of the most famous painters from the Rococo period. Although he lived during the cease of the 18th century, as Rococo began to decline, he created hedonistic paintings. During his lifetime, Fragonard as well painted multiple works for the royal family, including The Coming together (1771).

Fragonard met Boucher when he was only 18 years of historic period, and although Boucher refused to work with Fragonard considering of his lack of experience, he sent him to report with Jean-Baptiste-Simeon Chardin. Despite his early lack of experience, Fragonard became one of the most prolific painters in French fine art history. A especially famous Fragonard painting is The Stolen Osculation (1788).

Stolen Osculation (late 1780s) by Jean-Honoré Fragonard; Jean-Honoré Fragonard, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Jean-Antoine Watteau (1684-1721)

Although he died before the Aureate historic period of Rococo, Jean-Antoine Watteau was one of the about influential figures in the motility. It is Watteau who is credited with pioneering the Rococo style which he reached by integrating his own creative flair with elements from masters like Peter Paul Rubens and Titian.

Watteau's way was peculiarly colorful, with vibrant hues and a lot of depth. Many of Watteau's works are typical of the Rococo way in their theatrical appearance. Watteau was also famed for his incredible ability to capture infinitesimal and intricate details, especially in ornate garments. Possibly Watteau'south most famous painting is Pilgrimage to the Isle of Cythera,which he completed in 1717. Other notable works include Pierrot (1719) and Embarkation for Cythera (1717).

Pilgrimage to Cythera, so-called The Embarkation for Cythera(1717) by Antoine Watteau; Antoine Watteau, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Elisabeth Louise Vigee le Brun (1755-1842)

One of the most prominent female person artists in French history, le Brun is known best for her opulent portraits. When le Brun developed her creative skill, she was not allowed to nourish any of the formal art schools or academies. Fortunately, her begetter was an creative person and he taught her to paint.

At just fifteen years of age, le Brun began working as a professional person painter. Despite the sexism of the day and the many who shunned her piece of work, le Brun was placed in the Royal Academy at 28 years of age past King Louis Xvi and Marie Antoinette. Le Brun went on to paint some of the most famous paintings in the history of France, with her near well-known piece being Marie Antoinette in a Courtroom Dress (1778).

Marie Antoinette in Courtroom Wearing apparel (1778) by Élisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun; Kunsthistorisches Museum, Public domain, via Wikimedia Eatables

Giovanni Battista Tiepolo (1696-1770)

A famed Venetian painter, Tiepolo is well-known for his highly decorative and overly elaborate paintings, often depicting imperial figures. Tiepolo had a unique manner during the Rococo period, having studied under several artists influenced by the High Renaissance. Every bit a result of his education, Tiepolo's way was a combination of Rococo and Renaissance.

Of his many works, The Marriage of the Emperor Frederick and Beatrice of Burgundy (1752) is probably his virtually famous. This incredibly significant historical event was portrayed in typical Rococo manner. An opulently decorated hall with arches, flowing defunction, and elegantly dressed figures beautify the canvas of this famous painting.

The Union of Frederick Barbarossa and Beatrice of Burgundy (1727-1804) by Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo; Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Giovani Antonio Canal (1697-1768)

Better known as Canaletto, Giovani Antonio Canal was ane of the virtually famous figures of 18th century Rococo. The Italian-born painter showed early on creative hope and became i of the virtually famous artists in both the Rococo and Venetian school movements.

Having traveled extensively throughout Europe during his life, Canaletto was well-known for his incredibly realistic cityscapes. Among the most famous paintings from his youth are The Entrance to the G Canal, Venice (1730), and The Stonemason's Yard (1725). Canaletto completed both of these paintings as the Rococo move was beginning to grow in France. It was thanks to the deportment of Canaletto that Rococo spread to Italia.

Canaletto'due south The Archway to the 1000 Canal, c. 1730; Canaletto, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Thomas Gainsborough (1727-1788)

A prominent Rococo British creative person, Gainsborough is best known for his intricately detailed portraits and elegant landscapes. Gainsborough was 1 of the most prominent members of the St. Martin'south Lane Academy, which was founded by Hubert Francois Gravelot after Rococo had crossed the channel from France.

Remembered as one of the most famous 18th-century British Painters, Gainsborough'due south Rococo paintings are among his near celebrated. Although many of Gainsboroughs most loved paintings are landscapes, his well-nigh famous Rococo painting is The Blue Boy which he painted in 1770.

Jonathan Buttall (The Blue Boy)(c. 1770) by Thomas Gainsborough; Thomas Gainsborough, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Full of opulence, aureate, and extravagance, the Rococo style of the 18th century is immediately recognisable. Although the movement did not last very long, it certainly made an impression and many of the artists from this period remain important historical figures.

Accept a wait at our Rococo art webstory here!

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Source: https://artincontext.org/rococo-art/

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