Rococo painting

1. Rococo painting The Century of Louis XV

2. The Marquise de Pompadour became the mistress of Louis XV, king of France, in 1745. François Boucher painted this portrait, which hangs in the Louvre museum in Paris, France

3. Outline • Introduction • Part I. The 18th century in France • Part II. Definition of Rococo • Part III. Rococo painters • Conclusion • References

4. Introduction • Rococo art, which flourished in France and Germany in the early 18th century, was in many respects a continuation of the baroque, particularly in the use of light and shadow and compositional movement • Rejected the traditional themes of heroes and mythology and instead focused on representing the carefree life characteristic of the aristocratic patrons of the arts • This style received its name in the nineteenth century from French émigrés, who used the word to designate in whimsical fashion the old shellwork style (style rocaille), then regarded as Old Frankish

5. Part I. The 18th century in France • The Rococo style succeeded Baroque Art in Europe. It was centered in France, associated with the reign of Louis XV • Louis XV (1710-74), king of France (1715-74), whose failure to provide strong leadership and badly needed reforms contributed to the crisis that brought on the French Revolution • Pompadour, Marquise de, née Jeanne Antoinette Poisson (1721-64), influential mistress of Louis XV, king of France, known for her patronage of art and literature • In 1745 French population 25 million; 28 million in 1789 • Emergence of the intellectual movement called the Enlightenment

6. Part II. Definition of Rococo • An eighteenth century art style which placed emphasis on portraying the carefree life of the aristocracy rather than on grand heroes or pious martyrs • Love and romance were considered to be better subjects for art than historical or religious subjects • The style was characterized by a free, graceful movement; a playful use of line; and delicate colors • Genre painting came back into favor when the Academy admitted Watteau to its ranks in 1717 on the presentation of this work, the subject of which was so novel that the term "fête galante" was coined to describe it

7. Part III. Rococo painters • Among rococo painters, Jean-Antoine Watteau is known for his ethereal pictures of elegantly dressed lovers disporting themselves at fêtes galantes (fashionable outdoor gatherings) • Highly popular also were mythological and pastoral scenes, including lighthearted and graceful depictions of women, by Fragonard and Chardin

8. a. Watteau • Watteau, Jean-Antoine (1684-1721), French painter, who is regarded as one of the outstanding artists of the rococo period • Born at Valenciennes, which had passed to France from the Spanish Netherlands only six years before his birth • Moved to Paris in 1702, worked with Gillot, who stimulated his interest in theatrical costume and scenes from daily life • In 1717 he submitted The Pilgrimage to the Island of Cythera (Louvre, Paris), as his reception piece to the Academy • Watteau had many loyal friends and supporters who recognized his genius, and although his reputation suffered with the Revolution and the growth of Neoclassicism

9. This picture was Watteau's diploma piece for the Académie royal de Peinture et de Sculpture. Watteau's nomination was accepted by the Académie in 1712. the general atmosphere of the painting is Venetian, and the distant mountains in their blue haze recall Leonardo The Pilgrimage to the Island of Cythera

10. b. Fragonard • Fragonard, Jean-Honoré (1732-1806), French painter of the rococo age, became a favorite in the courts of Louis XV and Louis XVI • His most familiar works, such as The Swing (c. 1766), are characterized by delicate hedonism • François Boucher was prevailed upon to accept him as a pupil • In 1752, Fragonard's elementary training completed, Boucher recommended that he compete for a Prix de Rome scholarship, which meant study under Carle Van Loo, in Paris • In 1756, Fragonard set off with other scholarship winners for the French Academy at Rome • A prodigiously active artist, he produced more than 550 paintings, several thousand drawings (although many hundreds are known to be lost), and 35 etchings. His style, based primarily on that of Rubens, was rapid, vigorous, and fluent, never tight or fussy

11. The Swing 1767Oil on canvas, 81 x 64 cmWallace Collection, London

12. c. Chardin • Chardin, Jean Baptiste Siméon (1699-1779), French painter, one of the greatest of the 18th century • Embodies the frivolity and elegant superficiality of French court life at the middle of the 18th century • In 1727-31 he was in Italy, and on his return was soon busy as a versatile fashionable artist • Director of the Gobelins factory in 1755 and Director of the Academy and King's Painter in 1765 • Favourite artist of Louis XV's most famous mistress, Mme de Pompadour, to whom he gave lessons and whose portrait he painted several times

13. Winter(1735; Frick Collection, New York )

14. Conclusion • It was a reaction of nobility against classical baroque which had been imposed at Versailles by Louis XIV • Style of the aristocracy: it revealed a taste for what is clear and elegant, refined and gallant • Life without worry, closely related to nature • Its influence on French architecture is limited, yet it reaches Germany where it finds favorable ground • The 1789 French Revolution interrupted the development of Rococo • Rococo was eventually replaced by Neoclassicism, which was the popular style of the American and French revolutions

15. References • http://www.kfki.hu/~arthp/html/w/watteau/antoine/1/index.html • http://www.artlex.com/ArtLex/r/rococo.html • http://witcombe.sbc.edu/ARTH18thcentury.html • http://www.abcgallery.com/movemind.html#Rococo • http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/fragonard/ • http://www.zeroland.co.nz/art_periods.html • http://www.artcyclopedia.com/history/rococo.html