Rococo versus Neoclassical Artwork Styles
Early in the 18 century, Paris brought about the art of rococo. It is a style that involves the decorations of architecture painting, interior designs, sculpture and decorative arts. Currently, the style is being adopted throughout France and other countries, including Germany and Australia. Rococo style is characterized by elegance, lightness and exuberant application of curving natural kind in ornamentation. Besides rococo style in the eighteen, neoclassicism arose inspired by the rationality and simplicity of ancient Greece, (Etro, Federico, Stepanova, 34). To note is that neoclassical came after rococo and majored mainly on sharp colours, utilizes techniques like chiaroscuro that differentiates light from a dark colour to create an illusion in its artwork.
Despite the time and origin of rococo and neoclassical artwork, both are similar in a way that they are today taking away with work of baroque paints and saints’ themes from their religion, the divines and its iconographies as it was before. Instead, it is embarking on fantasy and life pleasures. Similarly, neoclassical has distanced and ditched itself from the historical characteristics of rococo artwork, and currently focusing on the present social issues and happenings. Additionally, the two have majored in trying to address the current social problems facing the societies hence are rich in current affairs.
There is a significant difference between the two styles of art, despite only a few can realize. The work of Jean-Honore Fragonard in his work has presented the best example of rococo art work-The Swing. In this, The Swing presents a delicate with coiling tree branches with many curves as evidence in ruffles on the subject’s dress. He is using light and dark shadow, which is a unique technique to bring about the illusion intended ( Altamira, Manuel, 237). On the other hand, we find an example of neoclassical artwork manifested clearly in the artwork of Jacques-Louis David, which; The Horrati.
Regarding the works of Virginia museum of fine artwork chapter twenty-one, she is employing the application of both rococo and neoclassical styles in her work. In it, we find elegance features that take pure work conditions of rococo. In the right part of her works, she has used blight light to cover the woman who is holding the child by the hand. Too the blight light has been used to show the viewers what time of the day would be the art worked. Based on the subject matter the, the boy seems to be carrying a scroll the maybe to show that there is a particular message he is delivering. His posture and the way the woman looking at him indicates that the boy is not very courageous to give. In front stands someone who depicts a man who would be someone in authority. The artist has also used the dark colouration to present the background of her work. This technique employed limits the viewer to concentrate on the exact message intended by the artist by painting the wall in the background dark as this would not attract the attention of the viewer.
Regarding most successive art styles, we can see that many of them are those that were an earlier style modification or a continuity of another one. An attempt to break and run away from the current styles and work for completely new styles based on the current era can be the best to suit the generation. However, like neoclassical grew after rococo styles can too work better in the field if only better techniques are employed.
Works cited
Etro, Federico, and Elena Stepanova. “The Market for Paintings in Paris between Rococo and Romanticism.” Kyklos, vol. 68, no. 1, 7 Jan. 2015, pp. 28–50, 10.1111/kykl.12072. Accessed 4 Apr. 2020.
Ibeas-Altamira, Juan Manuel. “Diderot’s Rocaille Jewel: An Example of Rococo Humour.” Romanica Olomucensia, vol. 30, no. 2, 30 Jan. 2019, pp. 287–298, 10.5507/ro.2018.017. Accessed 4 Apr. 2020.