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Historical events during rococo
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Recommended: Historical events during rococo
Branon Ryals
Professor Gregory Caicco
HUM 2052
15 May 2014
The rococo style of painting is defined as “a style of painting that emphasized irregularity and asymmetry, movement and curvature, but on a smaller, more intimate scale than the baroque” (Hunt, pg. 565) style of art and architecture. This style of painting was a direct result of the population becoming more literate and wealthy. Artists didn’t need to rely on being commissioned by the church or the government for their artwork, instead it was the private citizen who would pay for the artist for their work. This lead to art that could provide more of a social commentary, or be more political in nature. The artwork would depict small intimate scenes from the daily lives of the wealthy and middle class in the 18th century. The style of art “mirrored the extravagance and amorality of the idle rich of the 18th century” (Johnson). While the rococo style was extremely popular in France, it was looked down upon by most of the British. They considered the style of art to be pornographic in nature and women who were caught viewing this artwork could stand have had their reputations called into question (Johnson).
In “The Swing” by Jean-Honore Fragonard, we are presented with the seemingly innocent image of a lady being push on a swing with a gentleman laying in the bushes underneath her. While at first glance, it is hard to wonder why this painting done in the rococo style would be considered scandalous. Perhaps in this day and age it wouldn’t be, but during the 18th century, it would represent something entirely different to the people that viewed it. The man lying in the bushes is actually able to see u the young lady’s dress as she swings over him. At the same time, the man in ...
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...ng with their culture when they were ruled by leaders who only cared for themselves.
References
François Boucher. Nude on a Sofa. n.d. Web. 15 May 2015. .
Hunt, Lynn, et al. The Making of the West: Peoples and Cultures. Boston, New York:
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Ingres' La Grand Odalisque. n.d. Web. 15 May 2014. .
Jacques-Louis David: The Oath of the Horatii. n.d. Web. 15 May 2014. .
Jean-Honore Fragonard: The Swing. n.d. Web. 15 May 2014. .
Johnson, Jeff. “Rococo, Neoclassicism, and the Seeds of Revolution.” Melbourne: Florida
Institute of Technology, May 2014, Lecture
Coffin, Judith G., and Robert C. Stacey. "CHAPTER 18 PAGES 668-669." Western Civilizations: Their History & Their Culture. 16TH ed. Vol. 2. New York, NY: W. W. Norton &, 2008. N. pag. Print.
Dr. Billington masterfully weaves these monographs, essays, texts, and learned journals, into a readable yet pedantic overview of the history of the American West.
Clifford R. Backman, The Cultures of the West: A History. Volume 1: To 1750. New York: Oxford University Press, 2013.
Aristotle once claimed that, “The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance.” Artists, such as Louise-Elizabeth Vigée Le Brun and Mary Cassatt, captured not only the way things physically appeared on the outside, but also the emotions that were transpiring on the inside. A part no always visible to the viewer. While both artists, Le Brun and Cassatt, worked within the perimeters of their artistic cultures --the 18th century in which female artists were excluded and the 19th century, in which women were artistically limited-- they were able to capture the loving relationship between mother and child, but in works such as Marie Antoinette and Her Children and Mother Nursing her Child 1898,
Fragonard was a product of the late Rococo period in the early eighteenth century a period that consisted of pastoral images of both men and women participating in games, having lunch together or a passionate scene between two people. Rococo created for the rich of France, consisted mainly of two types gallant and libertines. Fragonard’s paintings were mostly gallant which represented love as a playful game. This can be seen in his two paintings Blindmans Buff (fig. 1) and The Swing (fig. 2). These included interactions with figures in the paintings that suggested courtship; in this case it would be the pastel colors that he used which created a more playful look for the figures. In his 1775 version of The Swing (fig. 2) Fragonard presented a vision of nature and shows tremendous growth from his previous work painted during his second trip to Italy. This version is less erotic compared to his previous version of The Swing (fig. 3). The Swing (fig. 2) bares many similarities to some of his other works none more than Blindmans Buff (fig. 1) that was painted at the same time as The Swing. Both paintings shared various similarities and featured playful scenes of love.
The 18th century is well known for its complex artistic movements such as Romantism and Neo-classical. The leading style Rococo thrived from 1700-1775 and was originated from the French words rocaille and coquille which meant “rock” and “shell”; used to decorate the Baroque gardens1. Identified as the age of “Enlightenment”, philosophers would ignite their ideas into political movements1. Associated with this movement is England’s John Locke who advanced the concept of “empiricism”. This denotes that accepting knowledge of matters of fact descends from experience and personal involvement1. Locke’s concept assisted the improvements of microscopes and telescopes allowing art students in the French academy to observe real life1. Science and experience influenced painting more so in Neo-Classicalism. Locke fought for people’s rights and the power or “contract” between the ruler and the ruled. Reasoning that “the Light in Enlightenment referred to the primacy of reason and intellect…and a belief in progress and in the human ability to control nature”1. Hence, the commence of experimental paintings such as Joseph Wright’s (1734-1797) oil on canvas painting: Fig.1 An Experiment on a Bird in the Air Pump. This image was developed through science by placing a bird in glass container and pumping air to see the effects it would have on the bird (White cockatoo)1. Throughout the late 18th and early 19th century in Western Europe, Neo-Classical art became the “true Style” and was accepted by the French Revolution under Louis XIV. Neo-Classical art was a reaction to Rococo’s light hearted, humour and emotion filled pieces.
In her, “Modernity and the Spaces of Feminity,” Griselda Pollock questions the representations and myths of modernity in Paris during the nineteenth century. The Impressionist movement, dominated by a masculine perspective, represent Paris as being the new place for recreation, leisure and unrestrained pleasure. But, what about Impressionist women painters? what was their point of view? Pollock argues that a historical asymmetry, which is a social and economical difference produced by a social structuration of sexual difference, determined both what and how men and women painted. Therefore, in order to analyze female Impressionist, we must take into consideration that they share the same social system produced by a sexual differentiation, hence,
Hunt, Lynn, et al. The Making of the West: Peoples and Cultures. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's,
Coffin, Judith G, et al. Western Civilizations: Their History & Their Culture. 17th ed. New York: W. W. Norton & Co, 2011. Print.
Though most works of art have some underlying, deeper meaning attached to them, our first impression of their significance comes through our initial visual interpretation. When we first view a painting or a statue or other piece of art, we notice first the visual details – its size, its medium, its color, and its condition, for example – before we begin to ponder its greater significance. Indeed, these visual clues are just as important as any other interpretation or meaning of a work, for they allow us to understand just what that deeper meaning is. The expression on a statue’s face tells us the emotion and message that the artist is trying to convey. Its color, too, can provide clues: darker or lighter colors can play a role in how we judge a piece of art. The type of lines used in a piece can send different messages. A sculpture, for example, may have been carved with hard, rough lines or it may have been carved with smoother, more flowing lines that portray a kind of gentleness.
McNeill, William H., 1998. How the West Won. New York: The New York Review of Books, 2-4
Dunkle, Roger. "The Classical Origins of Western Culture" Brooklyn College, The City University of New York. 1986 . Web. 29 July 2015.
Anthony C. Yu, translated and edited, The Journey to the West Volume I (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1977), p. 16, 21.
Lynn Hunt et al., The Making of the West: peoples and cultures, a Concise History (Boston:Bedford/St. Martin's, 2003), 43, 45, 132, 136, 179-180
O’Donnell, Sr., Joseph J.. “Art and the French Revolution”. The Eerie Digest, May 2013. Web. 5th May 2013.