One of the greatest opera houses in the world was the court theater of the rulers of Bavaria and it has a history that goes back to the 18th century. This remarkable feat of Rococo architecture has all the elements that define this extravagant style, and it looks pretty amazing indeed. Let’s take a closer …
Rococo
One of the most influential Rococo artists of the early 18th century was fascinated by an early form of theater and it reflects in his paintings. Jean-Antoine Watteau (1684-1721) invented a completely new genre of painting and this laid the foundation for the frivolous Rococo paintings in the following decades. In this article, we take …
This female artist lived during an important period in European history and her style reflects two important art movements. Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun (1755-1842) is considered to be a Rococo artist because of her color palette and association with the Ancien Régime. She did, however, also integrate elements associated with Neoclassical art and lived long …
If there is one art movement that beats all others in terms of exuberance then it’s definitely this 18th-century style that emerged in France. Rococo art followed Baroque art and is sometimes referred to as “Late Baroque.” That’s because Rococo artists built onto the already theatrical Baroque style of the 17th century. The movement didn’t …
When a young female French painter started to make a name for herself in the second half of the 18th century, she adopted the popular Rococo style. Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun (1755-1842) lived through the transition between Rococo art and Neoclassical art and gradually transformed her style to suit the contemporary artistic preference. She worked …
Very few artists in history have lived through 3 different art movements. This makes the career of Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun (1755-1842) quite special. She became the favorite portraitist at the French court during the final years of the Ancien Régime. The Rococo artist produced dozens of portraits of the royal family during this period. …
Although the career of Jean-Antoine Watteau (1684-1721) abruptly ended when he was still in his thirties, he left a permanent mark on the world of art. He invented an entirely new genre called “Fêtes Galantes,” depictions of people having a good time in extremely theatrical parkland surroundings. The idyllic settings of his paintings became the …
One of the greatest Engish artists in history became famous because he painted marvelous portraits of upper-class individuals. His true passion, however, was to spend time in nature and paint landscapes. Both types of paintings are featured in this remarkable list of masterpieces. Thomas Gainsborough (1727-1788) lived in a time that Rococo masters painted frivolous …
A frail artist from Valenciennes, a city in the northern part of France, moved to Paris in the early 18th-century to make a name for himself as a painter. While he only partially succeeded in his goal during his lifetime, this French artist did manage to transform the world of art in the 18th century …
The Baroque era was fading in France in the late 17th century. A more classical version of the usually overly theatrical Baroque was preferred during the reign of King Louis XIV. One particular French artist managed to revive the ideals of the 17th-century Baroque artists and transform them into a completely new era of frivolous …