GRAPHIC DESIGN

OF THE
ROCOCO ERA

BY AJIN ABRAHAM DANIEL

ROCOCO
• Rococo salons are known for their elaborate detail, serpentine design work, asymmetry and
predisposition to lighter, pastel, or gold-based color palettes.
• After the reign of Louis XIV, the wealthy and aristocratic moved back to Paris from Versailles and
began decorating their homes in the new Rococo style that was associated with King Louis XV.
• The notion of the salon is an Enlightenment era ideal that transformed the salon, or living room,
into the central space for aristocracy to entertain guests and engage in intellectual conversation.
• Rococo interiors are highly unified in nature, and represent the coming together of a number of
decorative arts.
• As with other Rococo art forms, the color palette is lighter, the lines are curvaceous (‘S’ curve), and
the decoration is excessive.
• Furniture rose to new heights in the period and emphasized lighthearted frivolity.
• Furniture, friezes, sculpture, metalwork, wall, and ceiling decoration are woven together stylistically
in the Rococo salon.
EG.
• In 18th century Europe, the Rococo style became prevalent in interior design, painting,
sculpture, and the decorative arts.
• A reaction to the rigidity of Baroque style, the frivolous and playful Rococo first manifested
itself with interior design and decorative work.
• In French, the word salon simply means living room or parlor, and Rococo salons refer to
central rooms that are designed in the Rococo style.
• In addition, the notion of the ‘salon’ is an Enlightenment era ideal that transformed the living
room into the central space for aristocracy to entertain guests and engage in intellectual
conversation.
• The idea that one’s architectural surroundings should encourage a way of life, or reflect one’s
values, was the philosophy of the time.
• Rococo salons often employed the use of asymmetry in design, which was termed contraste
ROCOCO IN PAINTING AND
SCULPTURE
• Rococo style developed first in the decorative arts and interior design, and its influence later spread to
architecture, sculpture, theater design, painting, and music.
• Rococo style is characterized by elaborate ornamentation, asymmetrical values, pastel color palette, and curved
or serpentine lines.
• Rococo art works often depict themes of love, classical myths, youth, and playfulness.
• Antoine Watteau is considered to be the first great Rococo painter who influenced later Rococo masters such
as Boucher and Fragonard.
• In sculpture, the work of Etienne-Maurice Falconet is widely considered to be the best representative of
Rococo style.
• Rococo sculpture makes use of very delicate porcelain instead of marble or another heavy medium.
• Rococo: A style of baroque architecture and decorative art, from 18th century France, having elaborate
ornamentation.
• pastel: Any of several subdued tints of colors, usually associated with pink, peach, yellow, green, blue, and
lavender.
• serpentine: Sinuous; curving in alternate directions.
ROCOCO PAINTING

• Rococo Painting
• Painting during the Rococo period has many of the same qualities as other Rococo art forms such
as heavy use of ornament, curved lines and the use of a gold and pastel-based palette. Additionally,
forms are often asymmetrical and the themes are playful, even witty, rather than political, as in the
case of Baroque art. Themes relating to myths of love as well as portraits and idyllic landscapes
typify Rococo painting.
• Antoine Watteau is considered to be the first great Rococo painter.
• His influence is visible in the work of later Rococo painters such as Francois Boucher and Honore
Fragonard.
• Watteau is known for his soft application of paint, dreamy atmosphere, and depiction of classical
themes that often revolve around youth and love, exemplified in the painting Pilgrimage to Cythera.
• Francois Boucher became a master of Rococo painting somewhat later than Watteau.
ROCOCO PAINTING BY WATTEAU