Art and Decoration in Eighteenth Century France

French painting during the eighteenth century is generally divided into two phases. The rococo, or first phase, dominates the first half of the century. The latter portion of the century is characterized by subjects and forms modeled on antiquity and by a strong reaction against the decorative excesses of the earlier style. A scholarly tradition established in the nineteenth century by the Goncourt brothers attributes to the ascendancy of women the existence of the rococo and the essence of eighteenth-century art (Spencer 242).

The seventeenth century had favored subjects such as history, religion or those associated with legend. During the eighteenth century there arose in France, a desire to experiment and produce paintings that were more in keeping with the exploration of change. To some extent the art form produced was stimulated by writers of the day, s

. . .
cally inspired by well-known figures from the Italian Comedy, are in reality, French. In his work, he created an oddly melancholy world of enchanted lovers and their ladies, dressed up for a moment in the costumes of Harlequin or Columbine. According to Faniel (14, 30) Watteau disguised in his paintings his colleagues, his friends and the people who were his patrons. After his death, all poetic qualities disappeared from this type of painting, with successive examples of this type of painting becoming "escapist" fantasies of elegant, worldly figures posturing in parks. In keeping with the general tendency of French painting style for the time, it was the swing that established itself as one of the many devices used in the "fOte galante." Its choice was unique for it allows both performers and spectators to play a part in the scene of the painting and also allows the artist to paint women in graceful poses. Fragonard used such a setting for one of his greatest masterpieces. Pater set his version of the theme against a transparent and almost wholly artificial background in his painting entitled "The Swing" (Faniel 30). WatteauÆs painting, ôThe Embarkationö is another good depiction of the French rococo style. The elegant men, t
. . .

Some common words found in the essay are:
Louis XIV, Napoleonic Code, Leczinska Nattier, Madame Pompadour, Dutch Flemish, Versailles Spencer, Swing Faniel, According Faniel, Taglioni--had Schall, Chardin LaTour, eighteenth century, french painting, eighteenth century france, century france, type painting, art form, seventeenth century, century french, faniel 14, spencer 242, madame pompadour, eighteenth century french, period eighteenth century, available on-line 24, on-line 24 november,
Approximate Word count = 2671
Approximate Pages = 11 (250 words per page)

More Essays on Art and Decoration in Eighteenth Century France