Art History (Lesson 19/2):Rococo/Vernet,Robert,Perronneau,Houdon,Faleonet,Pigalle,Coustou,Zimmermann

Art History (Lesson 19/2): Rococo Art/| Joseph Vernet,Hubert Robert,Jean-Baptiste Perronneau,Jean-Antoine Houdon,Etienne-Maurice Faleonet,Jean-Baptiste Pigalle,Guillaume Coustou,Johann Baptist Zimmermann,Johann Michael Rottmayr,Paul Troger

Emerging in about 1700, the Rococo style dominated European art for most of the 18th century. Superseding the Baroque movement, it emphasized elegance, frivolity, and decorative charm. The greatest Rococo painters were Giambattista Tiepolo, Jean-Antoine Watteau and Francois Boucher.
The word “Rococo” is thought to derive from rocaille, a French word describing an ornamental form of rock- work that uses shells and pebbles to adorn fountains and grottoes. This seems to have been combined with barocco, a source-word for Baroque (see p. 194). Origins and influences The term Rococo is said to have been coined by one of David's pupils, shortly after the French Revolution. It was meant as a humorous insult, mocking the supposed triviality of the florid, aristocratic style. It remained a pejorative term throughout the first half of the 19th century, but is now free from any negative connotations. The Rococo style had a major impact on architecture, interior design, and the decorative arts, as well as painting it developed initially in France, but eventually spread to most other parts of Europe, either by engravings or by expatriate French artists. Subject matter Rococo painters retained many of the themes that had been in vogue during the Baroque era, but treated them ina lighter, more playful manner. Symbolic and mythological subjects were still in demand, but they lost much of their serious content. In many cases, they simply provided a pretext for tastefully erotic depictions of the female nude. Amorous themes were especially popular. Watteau pioneered the féte galante, a new type of subject in which elegant young couples, dressed in rich attire, wandered blissfully.