Rococo vs. Neoclassicism
Rococo’s style of depicting the mundane and domestic life of people, with its simplicity and light-hearted nature produces a certain type of attraction that I would personally prefer. The soft pastel colors that are the most prominent and mostly used color palette during the first half of the 18th century in Paris gave the paintings a subtle and charming essence to it. Neoclassicism, on the other hand, is a form of art that emerged as a reaction to the Rococo style which seems to depict and appeal to the bourgeoisie or the upper class. Neoclassicim’s response was a more perfectionistic art that promots harmony and balance. During this time, most architectures, paintings and sculptures were inspired by the Romans and Greeks which is mostly due to the emergence of the new science of archeology. Regardless of the contrast in style, however, both styles seem to emphasize the expression of artistry that pays careful attention to the smallest of details to display their talent, taste and techniques.
An attempt to look at the contrast between Rococo arts and modern forms of entertainment seems to reveal more of a similarity rather than contrast. The excessiveness and grandeur that modern society crave is not much different to the subjects that can be found in the paintings. On the outside it may look different, but a closer look at the context tells us otherwise. The emergence of buying class through elegant furnitures, classic clothes and simple aesthetics are just some of the examples where we can find this similarity.
Painters like Antoine Watteau for example, may be one of the most regarded artist if he was to live in the modern era. He is original may come across as authentic and unpretentious to other people which may be one of the reasons as to why people might be attracted to him and his creations. Nowadays, people crave to be original and are desperate to find the most obscure things to be interested in to make themselves seem more interesting to other people. Marketing Antoine Watteau without much exposure to people can produce a sense of exlusivity and originality. His paintings that shows the genre of fêtes galantes is exactly the thing people might be interested in because it is riddled with elitisim and exclusivity with its depiction of elegantly attired men and women in simple backgrounds with elegant decorations. (Stein, 2003) Despite this however, satirtical expressions or comedy may also be a motivation for artists of this era. The subjectivity of art is an asset that encourages people to feel whatever it is they want to feel about an art piece which can sometimes be comedic or, just simply, light-hearted.
Work Cited
Stein, Author: Perrin. “Antoine Watteau (1684-1721) | Essay | Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History | The Metropolitan Museaum of Art. “ The Met’s Heilbrunn Timeline of Art Histroy. n.d. Web. 23 May 2017. …
