Rococo & The EnlightenmentThe French Taste

and Beyond

18th Century

• 1715 Death of Louis XIV- royal patronage declined• Paris hotel –elegant townhouse, and salon • Patronage- French aristocracy to middle class and

bourgeoisie– Madame de Pompadour (France)

• Industrial Revolution• Musical giants- Vivaldi, Bach, Hayden and Mozart• France & Austria- Seven Year’s War• England- New World, India• American Revolution• French Revolution

18th Centruy

Rococo- 1700- 1775

– Rocaille and coquille “rock” and “shell”– Extension of Baroque– Ornate, frivolous style– Aristocratic appeal– Mainly France– England and America- Baroque

The Age of Enlightenment

• Rene Descartes- “I think, therefore I am”

• Denis Diderot- study from nature, outside

• Divine right of kings?

• Reason and intellect, human ability to control nature

Germain Boffrand

Salon de la Princessewith painting by Charles-Joseph Natoire andsculpture by J.B. Lemoine

Hôtel de Soubise, Paris, France

1737-1740

Rococo- style of interior design

François de Cuvilliès

Hall of Mirrors, the AmalienburgNymphenburg Palace Park, Munich, Germany

early 18th C.

Rococo in Germany

François de Cuvilliès

Hall of Mirrors, the AmalienburgNymphenburg Palace Park, Munich, Germany

early 18th C.

Rococo v. Baroque

Antoine Watteau

L’Indifferent

ca. 1716oil on canvas10 x 7 in.

• Most prominent Rococo painter• Born in Flanders -> France• overall mood, feeling?• shimmer of color•Different patrons of 17th vs. 18th c.

Antoine Watteau

Return from Cythera

1717-1719oil on canvas4 ft. 3 in. x 6 ft. 4 in.

• Rubens influence – color, painterly• Fete galante• Classical • Light, color

François Boucher

Cupid a Captive

1754oil on canvas5 ft. 6 in. x 2 ft. 10 in.

•Painter for Madame de Pompadour•Allegories•Italian and French Baroque

Jean-Honoré Fragonard

The Swing

1766oil on canvas2 ft. 11 in. x 2 ft. 8 in.

• Boucher’s student• Textures• Patterns• Content• Classical

The Age of Enlightenment

• Rene Descartes- “I think, therefore I am”• The encyclopedia• Isaac Newton• Denis Diderot- study from nature, outside• Science and rational improvement of Society• Voltaire- the personification of the Enlightenment spirit• Court of Louis XVI• Divine right of kings?• Reason and intellect, human ability to control nature

William Hunter

Child in Wombfrom Anatomy of the Human Gravid Uterus

1774

• scientific interests• illustrations and teaching aids for doctors• more accurate than previous

Joseph Wright of Derby

A Philosopher Giving a Lecture at the Orrery

ca. 1763-1765oil on canvas4 ft. 10 in. x 6 ft. 8 in.

•Painting reflects the Enlightenment•Electricity•Power of steam•Industrial Revolution- England

Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin

Grace at Table

1740oil on canvas1 ft. 7 in. x 1 ft. 3 in.

• France- natural • Baroque?• bourgeois realism• genre scenes• morals found in peasant’s simple life• owned by King Louis XV

Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin

The Soap Bubble

ca. 1739oil on canvas61 x 63 cm

Élisabeth Louise Vigée-Lebrun

Self-Portrait

1790oil on canvas8 ft. 4 in. x 6 ft. 9 in.

• Rococo?• self-confident• one of few women admitted to Academy

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Self-Portrait in a Straw Hatafter 1782Oil on canvas, 98 x 70 cm

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Élisabeth Louise Vigée-Lebrun

Marie Antoinette and Her Children

1788, Oil on canvas

8 ft. 10 in. x 6 ft. 4 3/4 in.

William Hogarth

Breakfast Scene from Marriage à la Mode

ca. 1745oil on canvas2 ft. 4 in. x 3 ft.

• England- natural• Baroque?• Satirical art- middle class• Social commentary• Moral intentions• Hogarth defined English style of painting

Thomas Gainsborough

Mrs. Richard Brinsley Sheridan

1787oil on canvas7 ft. 2 5/8 in. x 5 ft. 5/8 in.

• Rococo? •Landscape + portriats• leading artist in Grand Manner portraiture

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Blue Boyc. 1770,oil on canvas70.0 in × 44.1 in

Sir Joshua Reynolds

Lady Sarah Bunbury Sacrificing to the Graces

1765oil on canvas7 ft. 10 in. x 5 ft.

• Rococo • Portraits + classical • soft, elegant

Sir Joshua Reynolds

Lord Heathfield

1787oil on canvas4 ft. 8 in. x 3 ft. 9 in.

• key = victory• unidealized realism

Charles Wilson Peale

George Washington

ca. 1779-81oil on canvas95 x 61 3/4 in.

• Colonial America • Leading portraitist to George Washington• American Revolution

Benjamin West

The Death of General Wolfe

1771oil on canvasapproximately 5 x 7 ft.

• Pennsylvania born- went to England• cofounder of Royal Academy of Arts• succeeded Sir Joshua Reynolds- president• official painter to King George III

• Subject: contemporary historical • realism + drama• English general• defeat of French in Quebec

John Singleton Copley

Portrait of Paul Revere

ca. 1768-1770oil on canvas2 ft. 11 1/8 in. x 2 ft. 4 in.

• Massachusetts• left for England• English portrait style• Painted BEFORE England• silversmith• Baroque?

Canaletto

dome of the Chapel of Saint Ivo College of the Sapienza

Rome, Italy

begun 1642

• Italy• Baroque?• camera obscura• very realistic landscapes, details• Venice