Rococo and Neoclassicism

Question 1

Content

Answer 1

Subject matter and underlying meanings or themes - the “what”

Question 2

Form (formal properties)

Answer 2

The visual elements and the medium - the “how”

Question 3

Style

Answer 3

Characteristic methods of expression - the “what” + the “how” + the time period

Question 4

Fete galante

Answer 4

A type of painting depicting French aristocrats entertaining themselves outdoors. I.e. The Swing by Jean-Honore Fragonard

Question 5

Rococo characteristics (or form)

Answer 5

• Patel colors
• curvilinear, organic (shapes that come from nature)
• swirls and she’ll forms in decorative arts
• intimate scale painting (small scale)
• soft, feathery, loose brushstrokes

Question 6

Rococo content

Answer 6

• erotic, lighthearted subject matter

- mythological subject matter

Question 7

Hierarchy of genres

Answer 7

1. History painting (story painting)
2. Portraiture
3. Genre painting
4. Landscape
5. Still life
   * Fete galante falls in between genre painting and landscape

Question 8

The swing

Answer 8

1. Title: The Swing
2. Artist: Jean-Honore Fragonard
3. “Style”/category: Rococo
4. Medium: Oil on canvas
5. Date range: 1767, mid 1700’s

Question 9

Academy

Answer 9

An institution that trained artists in a traditional style of drawing and painting with a focus on anatomy and drawing from live models

Question 10

Salon

Answer 10

Annual exhibition of academic paintings

Question 11

History painting

Answer 11

Large scale painting depicting a mythological scene, biblical scene or historical event

Question 12

Oath of the Horatii

Answer 12

1. Title: Oath of the Horatii
2. Artist: Jacques-Louis David
3. Style: Neoclassical
4. Medium: oil on canvas
5. Date range: late 1700’s

Question 13

Neoclassicism content

Answer 13

Liberty, civic virtue, morality and sacrifice

Question 14

Neoclassicism form

Answer 14

• emphasis on drawing (design or disegno)
• symmetry and balance
• classical proportions, idealization
• linear perspective
• Meticulous handling of paint (artist trying to hide brushstrokes)
• high chroma (intense colors)

Question 15

Neoclassicism context

Answer 15

• Pompeii and Herculaneum
• renewed interest in antiquity unearthed Greek and Roman works of art
• grand tour
• French revolution: downfall of absolute monarchies and declining power of the church
• re-establishment of republics and democracies
• enlightenment + antiquity = “double dose” of rationality and logic