Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Early Rococo

You may remember the Rococo room I showed you from the Getty museum last week; also included in the museum's collections is a Regence room.

Called Regence (after the Regency of Louis XV, 1715-1723, as he was too young to immediately take the throne after the death of Louis XIV), the style moves away from the heavy baroque formalism which Louis XIV dictated at Versailles and into the less formal style found in upper class Parisian townhouses.

This was the birth of the French boiserie as we celebrate it today and you can see it here painted white with the crown and overmantel picked out in gilding. I love seeing the baby steps between formal design styles such as this and that they coincide with major political events fascinates my inner geek!

9 comments:

quintessence said...

What a beautiful era - and of course as you say, that's what's so interesting about art history - the intersection of history, politics, fashion etc !!

pve design said...

I mean they had to have something other to think about rather than politics - right!
pve

Hels said...

I agree that the style moved away from heavy baroque formalism and into the less formal style found in wealthy homes. But therein lay its problem. Rococo was thought of as lush, decorative, trivial, frivolous, free of cultural value or religious meaning.

I wonder what the term Rococo means to art historians now.

Lizzy Freundel said...

Incredible gilding of the plaster. Love this post!

Jamie Herzlinger said...

What a stunning period in design! Thank you for a beautiful post!
Jamie Herzlinger

The Devoted Classicist said...

Although many curators hate the whole concept of period museum rooms, I must admit I love them, despite their shortcomings.

The Devoted Classicist said...

Although many curators hate the whole concept of period museum rooms, I must admit I love them, despite their shortcomings.

Yuri-Alex Niso said...

I love that kind of gilding-- have you seen this video which picks it out in light? http://vimeo.com/3114617

Cynthia lambert said...

Looking forward to my favorite - neoclassical (Louis XVI) and Swedish Neoclassical.