Rococo Art and

Architecture

What is Rococo art?

French art style of 18th century painting
and decoration which spread quickly
throughout Europe particularly
Germany and Austria;
Corresponded roughly to the reign of King
Louis XV and Marie Antoinette of
France;
Comes from the French world rocaille,
meaning rock-work or shell

Main features/characteristics of
Rococo Art
1.
2.
3.
4.

Light and playful in style

Delicate and graceful
Elaborate ornamentation
Prone to shell-like curves

Art Expressions
1.
2.
3.
4.

Painting (frescoes, oil)

Sculpture
Interior Decoration
Architecture

Subject Matter
Elegantly-dressed lovers in fashionable
outdoor gatherings
Pastoral fantasies and scenes
Mythological characters and scenes
Lighthearted and graceful depictions of
women
Women in genre scenes (good mothers,
household managers)
Still-life
Plush Landscapes

Noted artists

Jean-Antoine Watteau
Francois Boucher
Jean Honore Fragonard
J.B.A. Chardin
Giovanni Battista Tiepolo
William Hogarth
Thomas Gainsborough
Sir Joshua Reynolds

Pilgrimage to Cythera
(1721) Jean-Antoine Watteau

(above)Embarkation for Cythera

(left)La Boudouse
Jean-Antoine Watteau

The Swing (1767)

Young Girl Reading (1776)
Captured Kiss
Jean-Honore Fragonard

Toilet of Venus (1751)

The Breakfast (1739)

Francois Fragonard

Self-Portrait
Marie-Louise OMurphy (1752)
Francois Boucher

Mr. and Mrs. Andrews(1749)

Thomas Gainsborough

The Blue Boy (1770)

Mr. & Mrs. William Hallet (1785)
Thomas Gainsborough

Amour Menacant
Etienne Maurice Falconet

Rococo Architecture
Is generally a variation of baroque architecture.
It was lighter, more graceful, and more subdued than baroque
architecture.
Decorations use natural forms such as tree branches, clouds,
flowers, sea shells, surf, coral, seaweed, spray, and scrolls.
Many colors that were used were pastels, but they also used lots of
gold.
Most rooms were rectangular with rounded corners, and the walls
were mostly flat, and smooth.
Doors and woodwork had minor carvings, the carvings were not
deep like in baroque buildings.
They often had decorations and gilding on the walls, doors, and
draperies. Windows, wall panels, and doors often went all the way
from the floor to the ceiling. Mirrors were also common.
Rococo architecture was common among the French aristocracy.
For that reason, it was unpopular among the common people, and
did not last long.

Portuguese-Brazilian church

Cathedral of Cadiz

Ballroom of Catherine Palace

Tsarskoye Selo

Design for a table by Juste-Aurle Meissonnier

Paris ca 1730

Rococo Interior
Gatchina

Ottobeuren Basilica
Bavaria

Fin