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Rococo artistic concept
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Fashion and furniture
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Rococo is a transliteration of French Rococo, and the word comes from French ro- caille (shell craft). This style is characterized by rocks and mussels. It is a gorgeous, exquisite and complicated artistic style, which combines Baroque style and China's decorative interest, and uses many S lines.
Baroque art is a period of masculinity, although it has strict etiquette, formal pride and exaggeration. The subsequent period, that is, Rococo art, began with the death of Louis XIV in 17 15, and became more refined, pretentious, rigid and therefore more powerless. It can be considered that a sign of this period is the popularity of European porcelain at the beginning of18th century. At first, people ate with heavy silver tableware and made huge sculptures with big stones, but now they use fragile porcelain as tableware and also make small and exquisite porcelain statues, thus reflecting the spirit of this romantic period.
The monarchy and the absolute authority of the church promoted the development of those dynamic expressions in the17th century, which were exactly what the representatives of absolutism needed for self-expression and specific explanation of their arbitrary power requirements. In the18th century, these authoritative figures lost their prestige, not only because some secular and church nobles were completely discredited ideologically and morally because of their dissolute conduct, but also because natural science and philosophy developed rational thinking and made people realize the disadvantages of the old social system. This optimism and self-confidence based on critical thinking, coupled with the infinite self-confidence in one's own ability, finally leads to the elegance of personal emotional value. People like idyllic and relaxed lyricism, like Anacreon's poems, and don't want the heroic epic that conforms to moral obligation, honor and will in the17th century tragedy, but prefer the truthfulness, typicality close to reality and wonderful dialogue style of comedy.
In this period, plastic arts are loyal servants of this society with ideological and moral liberation. Nevertheless, Rococo art is not a unique, creative or completely different artistic style from Baroque art, because it is oval, and there are two smaller oval halls between the Central Hall and the West Factory. In short, inside the church, the oval hall and the circular hall repeatedly cross and infiltrate, and this "multi-voice" can be comparable to a fugue composed by Bach.
Madame de Pompadour (172 1 ~ 1764) is the founder of rococo art style. She not only participated in military diplomatic affairs, but also influenced the artistic style at that time as a cultural "protector". Madame de Pompadour, whose original name was Jeanne Antoinette Poisson, was born in a family of financial speculators in Paris, and later became the mistress of Louis XV, and was named Marquise. Under the advocacy of Madame de Pompadour, the rococo artistic style came into being, which made the sculpture style with prosperous weather in the17th century shine under the sun king, and was touched by this lady with a delicate hand in the18th century, which was particularly charming.
The characteristic of Rococo secular architecture art is the garden-style mansion with light structure, which increasingly crowds out the baroque grand palace architecture. Here, individuals can develop freely without interference from the boastful court society. For example, the names of Xiaoyao Palace or Guan Jing Mansion indicate the private characteristics of these mansions. Prince Eugene's garden palace is a vibrant whole, consisting of seven symmetrically arranged pavilion-style buildings, and its folding compound sloping roof spreads gracefully and symmetrically from the middle to the domes of four turrets (Figure 202). The single-story main hall with gables on it has almost the comfort of the middle class, while the two spread-out double-story wings show the luxury of the master, but not the pride of the princes and nobles. Two single-storey buildings with moderate width are located between the pagodas, and the magnificence of the pavilions makes the whole building have the characteristics of a solid castle-in short, completely different architectural concepts are unified in an elegant internal connection. It is this careless configuration of architectural groups whose forms and styles are almost contradictory that clearly embodies the spirit of rococo art.
The staircase hall of the archbishop's office in Wü rzburg left a good impression of the elegance of the late Baroque architecture. Neumann wasted a lot of space here and designed two symmetrical staircase halls, but only one was built. However, this alone is enough to give this magnificent indoor space a spectacular atmosphere, which is transmitted to a series of buildings such as the front hall, garden hall and pilgrimage hall (Figure 207). The zenith paintings painted by Venetian Tiepolo in the staircase hall and pilgrimage hall have brought the charm of architectural art to an unparalleled level. The ceiling was transformed into colorful light by the huge zenith painting of 600 square meters, as if it were shot into the room from the empty sky. The sky is full of grotesque images, which cleverly conceal the boundary between architecture and painting (for example, dogs stand on prominent horizontal decorations). Gypsum floral decorations are also squeezed into the painting, and the characters in the painting use the sculptures in their hands to occupy the architectural space. With this illusion, painting, sculpture and architectural art are completely unified.
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Rococo artistic concept
1, meaning and background
Rococo art is a French art style in18th century, which originated in the late Louis XIV (1643 ~ 17 15) and was popular in Louis XV (1715 ~15).
/kloc-the 0/8th century is regarded as an era of "rationality" or "enlightenment". Philosophers have changed their work, from assuming the existence of God to inferring everything from experiments and observations. They almost excluded theology from philosophy and chose the secular route, and their interest shifted from paying attention to aristocratic education to seeking frivolous enjoyment. Artistic style, among musicians Mozart and Haydn, writers Pope, Addison, Fourtai, painters Waldo and Consboro, runs through a kind of * * * same theme, which combines rational and beautiful tastes with relaxed, clear and orderly materials.
Louis XIV often held various dances at Versailles Palace, torturing the nobles with tedious etiquette and meaningless duties, and then creating a leisurely environment with gorgeous court decorations, which was conducive to extramarital affairs, consuming the nobles' energy and making them have no time to plan rebellion. Therefore, artists are authorized to fabricate a happy ideal life with the sole purpose of creating a leisurely and actually lazy social happiness.
Rococo is relative to Louis XIV's magnificent classical art. This change is related to the decline of the French aristocracy, the spirit of free exploration in the Enlightenment (almost replacing religious belief) and the growing prosperity of the middle class.
Rococo was also influenced by China's art during its formation, especially in landscape design, interior design, silk products, porcelain, lacquerware and so on. (For example, China's small ceramics, German Maier, 1768). Because French art was the center of Europe at that time, the influence of Rococo art spread all over Europe.
The complicated style of Rococo art is similar to that of China in Qing Dynasty, and it is the same symbol of the end of Chinese and western feudal history.
2. Etymology and meaning
Etymologically, the word rococo is related to French rocaille (rock ornaments). As early as the17th century, the French word rocaille was often used to refer to caves. (There is also a saying that the rockery design of China was introduced to Italy during the Renaissance.) travail de rocaille (rock craft) was travail's consent. Rococo refers to an artistic style popular in interior decoration, architecture, painting, sculpture, furniture, ceramics, dyeing and weaving, clothing and so on.
Another explanation for Rococo first appeared in the dictionary of the French Academy, which refers to "the strange decoration, style and design from Louis XIV to early Louis XV". Some people associate "Rococo" with Italian "Baroque" and regard this "strange" Rococo style as the late stage of Baroque style, that is, the disintegration and decadence stage of Baroque.
3. The characteristics of rococo art..
① Curves are interesting, and C-shaped, S-shaped and whirlpool-shaped curves are often used as decorative effects.
② The composition is asymmetrical, but it has a light and elegant sense of movement.
(3) Soft and gorgeous colors.
4 advocating nature.
⑤ The banter and elegance of the characters show different kinds of love, such as romantic love, sexual love and maternal love.
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From the example of Wü rzburg, it can be clearly seen that in the late Baroque, it was not easy to distinguish between architecture and sculpture, because sculpture played a decorative role, unified in the overall scope of architectural works of art, and sometimes, it in turn played a role in giving architectural aesthetic significance, just like Wilton Castle Abbey Church (Figure 208). Here, the architectural scheme is to build the altar of St. George in "suitable light" For this reason, the architect cosmi Damian Assam only made the congregation hall dimly lit and covered the altar with a huge superstructure, thus keeping the congregation in mysterious darkness. However, he opened a big window in the hall behind the altar, allowing dazzling light to flood in from the window and directly hit the nave. His brother Egid Quilin Assam placed St. George's riding statue in the center of this shining light source, indirectly bringing extraordinary light to the statue from behind. The saint is like an extraordinary illusion on the altar, surrounded by sacred light, giving salvation and light to the world in darkness. A religious activity turned into a lively drama performance here, just like the theater at that time, because the theater was also putting on a drama telling an extraordinary story.
The dramatic features of sculpture art in the late Baroque period can also be proved by the materials used at that time. Because everything is for the purpose of perceptual effect and dazzling first impression, we don't use sandstone or marble, but use materials with poor texture, such as marble gypsum (mixed with ground colored sandstone and gypsum, and then poured and polished), or wood, and then paint the wood with a layer of simulated stone color. This kind of statue can't be watched carefully, which means it has a certain blinding effect, just like the scenery on the stage.
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The pleasure of free play, the pleasure of getting rid of all thoughts and getting sensual pleasure, is perhaps the most perfect expression in painting in this period, because it can directly satisfy and delight the eyes without the assistance of reason. Thanks to Rococo's unique and elegant paintings, long before the concept of "art for art's sake" was formed, we saw that an art needs to be evaluated through art itself rather than content.
This kind of lightness and cheerfulness is most perfect in Hua Tuo's new paintings, which earned him the title of "master of romantic celebration" specially created for him by the college. His works mainly include Fa Zhou Xi Tai Island, a Greek island that worships Aphrodite, the goddess of love. Just like the extraordinary performance at the garden party, just like it was popular in aristocratic palaces at that time. In front of the bright future of Love Island, the queue of lovers moves in a saturated warm color, which makes people and nature meet beyond the hazy outline and set foot on a golden boat with little love god hovering around and rose-red sails. Men are diligent and elegant, women wear silk dresses, behave gracefully, and have charming expressions of courtship, reserve and obedience, all of which make the surrounding scenery quiet and poetic, so as to experience the gentlest feelings of people. This is an elegant world, which has nothing to do with court reality. The artist doesn't want to hide this from the audience. Because just as the actors on his screen are all ideal figures in that era, the landscape is also a paradise that can only be dreamed, just as the natural form loses its authenticity in warm and bright colors and becomes a pure painting structure.
Half a century later, as Hua Tuo knew, in Frago Nader's place, this love poem, which could never be sung, became a simple love game. The lady on the swing-said to be the lover of a rich baron-represents the role that women in the18th century generally like to play: playing a petite and enchanting shepherdess in a duet with her amorous lover. A wonderful park scenery, illusory like a set in light colors, is where this pastoral poem takes place, emitting an atmosphere of naive games, but not without excitement. Lady is the kind of naive and mature type, which is advocated by Rococo style. She is good at using clever innocence to achieve her goal. Here, the swing can free her from direct entanglement and urge her to do her best to show off. She let her wide skirt dance carefree and let her lover see a charming scene. It is not clear now: who is the shoe that swings high happily? Is it this man or the statue of little love god? There is a third actor in the background, who is responsible for pushing the swing-so, is he a participant in the love triangle?
However, the carefree and often frivolous rococo style has not only been respected and recognized in painting, but also caused criticism in this society. William hogarth, an Englishman, is like this. He attacked the immoral behavior of his time with a series of satirical and condemning cartoons. They are loved by the public, but not because of the goal of social criticism and moral education, but because of the reality and humor of their expression. So this kind of protest has no effect on the people and things concerned, and only the revolution can judge this condemnation.
Looking at the rococo art in the18th century from a modern perspective, it should be said that Madame de Pompadour is the representative and organizer of those who like luxury styles, and has the characteristics of "popular support". So it was not until Rococo-style works appeared that the fashion of "* * *" was aroused among the nobles. It can also be said that the nobles advocated gorgeous atmosphere and induced rococo art. At that time, men and women in the upper class were enthusiastic and personally participated in craft activities, so that some of these behaviors reached the point of being ridiculed and absurd. In the16th century, when King Charles IX of the declining king of valois promised to give the Spanish king a gun made by himself, the Spanish ambassador was greatly surprised. /kloc-in the 0 th and 8 th centuries, Louis XVI's wife Mary complained all day that her husband was immersed in his workshop and didn't even have time to take care of his wife. Louis XVI devoted himself to studying the mystery of clocks and locks in his workshop. In these two cases, we seem to catch a glimpse of those tragic figures, and their roles are incompatible. These people found a paradise of self-comfort in manual labor. But this is an ominous sign for the emperor who doesn't care about state affairs.
The whimsical and changeable Rococo style, which was all the rage, ended with the death of Madame de Pompadour and was replaced by the neoclassicism advocated by another mistress of Louis XV, Madame Dubali. However, the glory of Rococo style has its own vitality beyond the times, and modern people all recognize it as a prelude to the Art Nouveau movement in the19th century. And those surviving artworks are still shining, telling people the fashion of that era and stories that people don't know.
French rococo painting
Rococo-style paintings are aimed at the enjoyable life of men and women in the upper class, depicting naked or semi-naked women and exquisite and gorgeous decorations, with heavenly natural scenery or exotic things (such as Venice and Rome) (sunflower, corn, etc.). ). On the one hand, it is inevitable to feel flashy, pretentious and lacking in divine power; On the other hand, it makes the picture completely free from religious themes and has French lightness and elegance. Pleasant, intimate, comfortable and luxurious scenes replaced the painful martyrdom of saints.
Famous painters such as:
A. Eduardo (1684 ~ 172 1), a court painter in the Louis XV era, has a fantastic life scene, which makes people yearn for it and produces a pleasant feeling. Ladies and gentlemen play and have a picnic in the forest, and the characters have elegant expressions. His genre painting style is the so-called "picnic" and is known as "Mozart in the painting". His masterpieces are Pilgrimage to Sicily (17 17, Louvre in Paris) and Clown (about 17 18, Louvre in Paris).
Boucher (1703 ~ 1770) is good at painting with the theme of "pastoral" and "myth", full of aristocratic interest. He was the chief painter of the squire king and the painting teacher of Madame Pombadou (the mistress of Louis XV). Representative works include Diana in the Bath (1742, Louvre, Paris), Brown-haired Slave (about 1743, Louvre, Paris) and Madame Pang Baddour (1756, Munich Museum of Old Paintings).
J.H. Fragona (1732 ~ 1806) delights in gorgeous salon life, mainly paints with contemporary customs, and uses light brushstrokes to express lyrical and elegant attractive pictures, such as Reading Girl (1776, National Gallery of Washington) and Reading Girl.
Xia Dan (J.B.S Xia Dan, 1699 ~ 1779) started with still life, extended to portraits and non-court aristocratic scenes, only conveyed the simple and restrained happiness of ordinary people, and was good at depicting genre paintings with the theme of citizen life in thoughtful and simple colors. Representative kitchen still life paintings Catfish (1728, Louvre, Paris) and Back from the Market (1739, Louvre, Paris).
Others:
Fran? ois Francois Boucher.
Jean Antoine Jean-Antoine Watteau.
Jean Reno Ray Vellage (Jean Honnore Fragona)
Sir Joshua Reynolds founded the "Sir Joshua Reynolds School" of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts.
Thomas Gainsborough Kingsburgh School
G. Romney
British painting
It was not until18th century that English painting with unique national style appeared. Although rococo style was also adopted, the needs of nobles were not considered. Whether in genre painting, portrait painting or landscape painting, it can reflect the real life and national thoughts and feelings of the British.
Famous painters are:
Huo Jiasi (W.Hogarth, 1697 ~ 1764), a civilian painter, absorbed the natural use of colors in rococo art, was good at using almost ironic painting techniques, and deeply and painfully recognized the shortcomings of the times. His masterpiece "Popular Marriage: Married" (1743 ~ 45, National Gallery of London). "Shrimp Catcher" (1745, National Gallery of London) depicts a thin and poor girl with a cheerful and energetic personality, which breaks the traditional portrait style of showing solemn and noble temperament. His theoretical work "Analysis of Beauty" expounds that curves are the most beautiful lines, and illustrates the application of the law of unity of change in art with many examples.
Sir J Reynolds (1723 ~ 92) imitated the essence of Italian classical masters and cared about noble themes, such as "historical paintings". His characters are noble and moving, but they don't pay attention to texture. Besides painting people, I am also interested in fairy tales and ancient historical episodes. He founded the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in 1768, asking artists to create an ideal human body like Greece and Rome, expressing lofty principles and pure beauty. His masterpieces include Noble Augustus (1753 ~ 54), Nelly Urban (portrait of a model, 1760 ~ 62, collected by Wallace in London) and Your Excellency Haier (1788-89, Louvre in Paris).
Influenced by Van Dyke, T. T.Gainsborough (1727~88 ~ 88) has unconventional painting performance and mature skin color and texture skills, which is better than Reynolds. Besides painting portraits, I am particularly interested in landscape painting. His masterpieces include The Andrews (1750, National Gallery of London) and Mary, Duchess of Howe, Elias (1760, Iveco bicester Kenwood).
Italy
G tiepolo (1696 ~1770) is the most outstanding representative painter of venetian school in18th century. His characteristic is that he inherits the bright colors and soft effects of Titian and George, and the greatest charm of his works lies in that the characters are full of British talents and bright colors. He is also the most outstanding mural artist, printmaker and cartoonist. He was invited to European countries to make murals for the royal family at that time. The most famous work is ceiling mural in Fesberg, Germany, which fully embodies the beautiful, elegant and relaxed characteristics of Rococo art, and The Virgin and the Goldfinch's Baby (1760, National Gallery of Washington) has the same style.
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Fashion and furniture
Baroque fashion, contrary to the geometric rigor of stylism and Spanish fashion, is deeply influenced by the energetic life consciousness, which is the same as architecture and plastic arts. In contrast to the flat collar or padded collar, the previous round thin pleated collar has no pulp hanging down now, and then it is simply replaced with lace hanging down on the shoulders. The hat has a wide edge, which can be made into a wide, high or oblique style according to everyone's temperament, and the hair can be scattered at will. If you lack natural hair, you can use a wig. Wigs have become the most impressive feature since Louis VIII, especially in France. That kind of long vacation is fluffy and curly on the top of the head, and then divided into two wings and hung down to the shoulders and chest.
Men's wear is still a blouse with a loose hem, or it can be sewn close to the waist. The sleeves are lace cuffs, or short sleeves that are only three-quarters as long as the arms, revealing a shirt with lace inside. Pants are hung loosely in bags and on socks with rose ribbons on them. 1675 or so, there appeared a three-piece suit for men's wear, which is still popular today. The coat evolved into a knee-length vest with a coat sewn close to the waist. Pants are knee-length shorts, followed by stockings and shoes with buttons.
Baroque women's dress gave up the geometric rigor of the Spanish bell skirt, but retained the wide hips and corset. Wear a bell-shaped dress outside a petticoat of different colors, mostly pleated in front and dragged behind. Rococo women's dresses have become coquettish, with ruffles, flounces, casual lace and raised petticoats. A dome-shaped whale bone ring replaced the ancient bell skirt, resulting in a typical silhouette effect of women in the late Baroque. From the overly wide skirt to the thin shoulders to the towering head, the whole person presents a cone shape.
The furniture in Baroque period added sofa bed, writing desk, wall table, chest of drawers (the improvement of the old chest of drawers) and cushioned armchairs. Like all furniture at that time, armchairs with cushions were stable and heavy, leaning back, and there were X-shaped or H-shaped stays between carved ribbed legs (no longer rotating in circles). Citizens like to use natural wood (solid wood or veneer) for baroque furniture, while aristocratic furniture often needs gold plating, which is very luxurious.
Starting from the new concept of its decorative form, Rococo furniture is characterized by developing its cross section from arc to plane arch. Rounded corners, beveled edges and imaginative thin lines make furniture look less bulky. All parts get rid of the structural division that has been followed and combine into a vivid whole. The hard railing legs evolved into "deer legs". The panel is inlaid with gold-plated copper sheets and carvings made of fine wood of different colors such as maple, mahogany, ebony and rosewood. With the end of the Louis XV era, this most gorgeous and popular furniture style has come to an end.
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The appearance of Rococo architecture is satisfied with rhythmic layout, natural building materials or a simple tone, while the interior decoration is colorful and diverse. The greatest feature is the hedonism of life, which is the secular enjoyment stage of life, mainly reflected in the palaces built by the royal nobles for themselves.
Comparison between Baroque architecture and Rococo architecture: The former pays attention to the sense of rhythm, quantity, space and varied three-dimensional sense of lines, which has the effect of painting. On the basis of the former, the latter pays more attention to the formal beauty of the wall, covers the wall with complex curves and decorative paintings, even enriches the indoor space with mirrors or candlesticks, and likes to decorate the interior with imported products (such as China porcelain, Japanese lacquerware, oriental silk and tapestries, African jewelry, Italian crystal lamps, etc.). ).
Interior decoration is usually based on white, with flowers, grass stems, palms, waves, foam or shells as decorative patterns, which brings an extremely slender and lively interest, but it destroys the sense of balance, solemnity and stability of the building, especially the dazzling colors such as gold, white, light green and pink. This complicated and artificial style is really the acme of decorative arts.
Representative works: G. Beaufland (1667 ~ 1754), the House of Subitz in Paris (1736-9, such as the Princess Hall inside). Kaisersal (1749 ~ 1754) in the residence in Wü rzburg, Germany, was built by architects B. Neumann (1687 ~ 1745) and Tibolo (G.
representative works
Boffrand (G. Boffrand, 1667 ~ 1754), the house in Paris (1736-9, such as the Princess Hall inside).
Kaisersal (1749 ~ 1754), a residence in Wü rzburg, Germany, was built under the leadership of architect B. Neumann (1687 ~ 1745), and Tiboro (G. Danish Palace) is also a standard rococo building.