Rococo Art
Rococo
Art is from 18th Century France and is a combination of French and
Italian influences. It followed the Baroque style, which was rich and
heavy, with a lighter element in both colors and shell-like curves. Rococo
became prevalent not only in paintings but in furniture and interior design
shortly after the reign of Louis XV. Entire rooms were decorated in Rococo
persuasion with ornate mirrors and elegant furnishings.
The Rococo style of canvas artwork became popular with French painters around 1730 and spread rapidly. Its main value lay in its graceful lines and lighthearted themes. In Rococo painting the palette is soft and pale with rich primary colors and dark tonalities. It is generally whimsical with many sweeps and flourishes.
Landscapes
often depict couples from the aristocracy onleisurely outings in grassy
fields or near lakes. Sometimes the subjects are in positions of near
impropriety, poking fun at the staid values of the church. Historians
say that although the actual origin of Rococo remains a mystery it was
thought to have begun with a French designer named Pierre Lepautre.
The delicate, shell shaped curves that dominated the Rococo period did not, however, last long. By the early 1760’s it was being ridiculed by the more famous artists and was replaced with Neoclassical pieces. Sometime during the early 1800’s it began to be revived and rediscovered and its influence is still, in the modern world, often duplicated.
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