Tag: Rococo

Top 5 Rococo Artworks

Image collage of the top 5 Rococo artworks

Rococo artwork is known for its flamboyant depiction of wealth and the aristocracy in the 18th century. This article covers the top five Rococo artworks that I think are important to the movement. You can also watch my video of these 5 artworks on YouTube.

Pilgrimage to Cythera (#1)

Pilgrimage to Cythera by Jean-Antoine Watteau was completed in 1717. This artwork was the catalyst to the Rococo movement. Approved by the French academy of painting and sculpture, this piece introduced wealth, flamboyance, and a new art style into painting. Characteristics of this new art style (Rococo) included loose brush strokes, pastel colors, and flamboyant escapades of the wealthy class – which is what the Rococo art movement would become known for. They even had to create a new genre in the academy called the fete gelante in order to fit this into their hierarchy of art.

Madame de Pompadour (#2)

Madame de Pompadour by Francois Boucher - Rococo artworks images
Madame de Pompadour by Francois Boucher (1756)

Francois Boucher completed Madame de Pompadour in 1756. Boucher took over the Rococo art movement after Watteau. In fact, he was one of the most well-known artists of the 18th century. A lot of this had to do with his main patroness, the Marquis de Pompadour, aka the Madame de Pompadour, aka King Henry the 15th’s famous mistress.

The Madame de Pompadour loved Boucher’s work so much that she had him paint almost every single one of her portraits. These artworks all hold a typical Rococo style in portraiture – loose brushstrokes, pastel colors, whimsical looks on their young idealized faces, and lots of symbols of wealth and power. Because of her wealth, power, and connections (you know, being connected to the king and all), she actually helped propel the Rococo art movement forward.

Self-Portrait, Elisabeth Louise Vigée-LeBrun (#3)

Image of Self-Portrait, Elisabeth Louise Vigée-LeBrun (A Rococo artwork)
Self-Portrait, Elisabeth Louise Vigée-LeBrun (1790)

Number three of my top five Rococo artworks is Vigee Le Brun’s self-portrait. Vigee Le Brun shifts between Rococo and Neoclassical. The style she does is Rococo, but her subject matter is more Neoclassical. I think she is an important Rococo artist because first of all, she was the lead portrait artist of Marie Antoinette who lived in Versailles and was an important figure in Versailles history. Second, her husband Victor Le Brun was the interior decorator of Versailles, which was very Rococo/Baroque. Victor also started the French academy of painting and sculpture. So, she’s just kind of a big name.

Not only was she connected to important Rococo persons, but she is a very talented painter. Vigée-LeBrun is fantastic with the Rococo styles of loose brush strokes (just look at her hair in the above picture!), pastel colors, and whimsical youthful faces. She also shows us what Rococo artists thought of themselves. She paints herself in the manner of painting, a serious artist. In addition, you can tell by the way she is dressed that she belongs to this wealthy class that she’s so associated with. It’s her way of bringing artists to the level of those people who are doing fete gelante.

Marriage A-la-Mode (#4)

Marriage A-la-Mode by William Hogarth (1743)

The Marriage A-la-Mode, by William Hogarth was completed in 1743. This Rococo artwork is a series of six paintings that makes fun of Rococo. It’s not necessarily done in the Rococo style, but in order to better understand the Rococo movement, you have to check this piece out.

In this piece, Hogarth satirizes the upper class – those people who can spend all of their money conversing in salons and going on fete gelantes. The six paintings show the story of an arranged marriage full of wealth and class that does not end well. It dramatizes the downfall of living a life like the aristocracy was doing during Rococo. What happens when you age and you no longer look beautiful and you no longer can go on these escapades? Or even worse, what happens if you lose all your money?

The Swing (#5)

Image of The Swing by Fragonard - A Rococo artwork
The Swing by Jean-Honoré Fragonard (1767)

Finally, I can’t not pick The Swing by Jean-Honoré Fragonard. Fragonard was able to build on the foundation that Watteau and Boucher had created for him to create a masterpiece. And in my opinion, this is the quintessential Rococo art piece. It has the perfect representation of all of those Rococo art characteristics – it’s frilly, it’s frivolous, it’s frothy, it’s full of wonder and secrecy. There’s lots of dynamic movement that connects it to the Baroque art period. You’ll find loose brush strokes, pastel colors, and this feeling of romance and love. The Swing is just perfectly Rococo.

Understanding these top 5 Rococo artworks helps you connect with the history, artists, and people surrounding the Rococo art movement.

Understanding The Rococo Art Movement

Key pieces of the Rococo Art Movement included The Swing by Fragonard and Embarkation for Cythera by Watteau

The Rococo Art Movement was all about flamboyance, wealth, fun, and romance. During this time, the rich were attempting to answer the question – how do you live a happy life? And the art shows they had just a little fun in testing out this answer. To get the full picture, let’s dive into all the details of the movement.

What Inspired the Rococo Art Movement

The Rococo Art Movement was inspired by 3 things:

  1. Baroque Art Movement
  2. Aristocracy replacing the monarchy in France
  3. Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture

How Baroque influenced Rococo

Baroque (1600’s) followed the Renaissance (1400-1500’s). The Renaissance is a tough period to follow (how do you follow perfection?!). But Baroque art added in more drama when compared to Renaissance art. This included more diagonals, painterly brush strokes, contrasting light and dark, and more movement in the art.

This Baroque art style paved the way for the Rococo Art Movement. You can start to see the two styles blend together in architecture. As an example, the Church of Vierzehnheiligen in Germany has both Baroque and Rococo aspects. A lot of the architectural characteristics in this building come from Baroque. But then you see pastel colors and more organic features that exemplify Rococo.

In general, the Baroque art style had a big influence on Rococo art. As you study Rococo, you’ll see a lot of Baroque style layered into Rococo characteristics.

The Church of Vierzehnheiligen in Germany shows both Baroque and Rococo characteristics.
Church of Vierzehnheiligen, in Germany. Construction began in 1720.

Aristocracy replacing the monarchy

King Louis XIV was a flamboyant, dominant monarch that fit what the Rococo movement came to be known as – wealthy people having fun. But it wasn’t until his death in 1715 that there was an important shift from the monarchy to the aristocracy. The monarchy actually left Versailles, and the aristocracy gained a lot of political and economic power. During this time, a small percentage of the population owned 90% of the wealth in France. This laid the grounds for the Rococo Art Movement.

With lots a leisure time, people turned their attention to personal affairs and worldly pleasures. A culture of luxury and excess became prevalent in France. And that’s when the shift from Baroque to Rococo can really be seen.

Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture in France

The Baroque art style and the rise of aristocracy in France created the perfect soil for the Rococo Art Movement. Finally, if there was a catalyst of the movement that you can point to, the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture and key decisions that were made within the academy, might have been that catalyst.

The Royal Academy was a prestigious art school that was difficult to get into. In the late 1600s and into the 1700s, the Academy created exhibitions for artists to display their art work. These exhibitions were a place to exchange and talk about art, literature, politics, and science. They were the birthplace of the art museum. And the perfect place for the aristocracy. Now the church and the monarchy weren’t the only ones controlling art, but the aristocracy was playing a major role in art movements.

In 1717, The Royal Academy accepted Jean-Antoine Watteau’s art piece, Pilgrimage to Cythera. This decision was huge at the time, because they couldn’t fit the piece into their hierarchy of categories. So, they created a brand new category – Fete galante. Fete Galante was a type of outdoor entertainment for rich people. It basically meant rich people doing rich things. (You’re kidding right? No, no I’m not). And so, this decision really ushered in the Rococo Art Movement.

The Rise and Fall Rococo

Birthed in France’s fertile soil of aristocracy and The Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture, the Rococo Art movement spread throughout Europe. Rococo’s themes of flamboyance, wealth, and fun had less religious themes than previous periods. The art depicted wealthy people doing wealthy things (fete galante), and enjoying plenty of romantic escapades. (For more on that, just study The Swing by Fragonard.)

But Rococo didn’t last very long. Following Rococo was Neoclassicism and the Enlightenment. This was a time for showing moral behavior. During these movements following Rococo, humans were at their most noble behavior, truly concerned about the human condition. So with all their fun, maybe they didn’t find how to live a happy life after all?