Art Synthesis Essay

Following the esteemed Baroque style of art made famous in the seventeenth and eighteenth century of Europe, artists in France began to develop a new, less severe and dramatic technique now commonly referred to as the Rococo period. This era, although short lived, became known as “one of the most radical breaks in a visual style in the history of art” as it turned away from the dark severity of the Baroque and instead favored jubilance and frivolity, best seen in the subject matter and lighter color tonalities chosen by the artists (Heisner 259). Like many shifts in art culture, critics did not immediately accept the new trends, however unlike other eras (such as Mannerism and Impressionism) the Rococo period has yet to experience the coming

By clarifying that “toward the end of the century, with the advent of neoclassicism, the term Rococo was used to vilify any non-classical art” (259). Heisner helps to point out that the Western approach to art (an approach that often holds classical Greek and Roman art in the highest regards, and compares all other art to it) can be at fault for the disappointing reputation the Rococo period has procured. Because of the influx of secular images and the lack of focus on creating religious art, many analysts of the time regarded this period to not hold the same significance of say, the Baroque and the Renaissance. Critic, John Elson, agreed with Heisner’s approach to the period, and explained “Fragonard’s rococo style and subject manner eventually lost favor with the public, which came to prefer the cool, luminous approach of Jacques-Louis David and other neoclassicists” (Elson 1). This negative connotation seemingly surrounds the Rococo period, especially after the Neoclassical period came into fashion immediately after, which drew inspiration from the Ancient Roman and Greek art that many still regard as the highest form of

They are usually constructed from pictorial patterns and motifs that were meant to convey narrative, psychological or allegorical content” (23). This interpretation continues to push the point that Rococo artwork was not necessarily a reflection of the current abhorrently and overly indulgent society, but instead a respectful style of artwork meant to capture “the spirit and frivolity of eighteenth century French society” without becoming biographical (Carroll 23). Though this frivolity did exist, and can be explicitly seen in the jubilance of Fragonard’s The Swing, it does not make the painting any less significant, as artists have looked to their culture and surrounding for thousands of years for inspiration. Brushing this masterpiece off as a simple garden scene in a period of basic genre paintings is a monstrous understatement after looking at the conventions Fragonard applied to creating