After the death of Louis XIV in 1715, a new artistic style known as Rococo emerged among the wealthy aristocrats of France. Nobles abandoned the lavish palace of Versailles for city life and the pleasures of Paris. During this period, France experienced a rise in aristocratic power. According to Henri See, Professor at the University of Rennes, “many members of the high nobility led a very pompous, ruinous life. (See 55)” This incredibly extravagant lifestyle can be depicted in the artwork of French painter Jean-Antoine Watteau. Although Watteau’s artistic style was not accepted by the French Academy, he was extremely popular among his aristocratic patrons. His paintings depicted and celebrated the aristocratic lifestyle, usually in organic, outdoor settings. His artwork often stressed natural landscapes unlike earlier artwork, which contained unnatural and controlled depictions of the outdoors. Watteau used loose brush strokes and a pastel color palette to create playful but elegant artwork.
Jean-Antoine Watteau moved to Paris in 1702, where he student paintings by the Flemish artist Peter Paul Rubens as well as the paintings and drawings of sixteenth century venetians. During his time in Paris, “Watteau perfected a graceful personal style informed by the fluent brushwork and rich colors of Rubens and the Venetians. (Stokstad 906)” Before gaining popularity with the aristocracy, Watteau supported himself by selling religious pictures and copying the works of popular Dutch artists. In 1719, Watteau painted The Champs-Elysees, which depicts a group of aristocrats in a beautiful fall landscape. In this painting, he portrays the gaiety and frivolity of the aristocratic lifestyle in France. The landscape was painted with loose brush strokes to appear very natural and organic. Although Watteau uses some pastels, his color palette illustrates the green, yellow, orange, and red tones of autumn. Watteau was influenced by the artwork of Ruben and believed that color was the most important aspect of a painting. He uses luminous colors that are very naturalistic and are intended to impact the viewer. Watteau’s depictions of the aristocracy and their outdoor entertainment eventually became known as the style fete galante.
In 1721, Jean-Antoine Watteau painted an erotic scene of a nude woman bathing in a pond titled Diana Bathing. During the Rococo Period, sexual artwork was intended for private and intimate viewing. Unlike his fete galante paintings, this image displays a suggestive scene, which would have appealed to many aristocrats. This painting would have contributed to the aristocratic “atmosphere of sensuality and luxury. (Stokstad 906)” The nude woman depicted is probably an aristocrat because of the lavish clothing beside her. Although the woman is the main focus of the painting, the natural landscape takes up a large portion of the scene. Watteau continues to use loose brushstrokes to realistically portray nature. He also uses pastel colors to better depict sensuality in this image.
The artwork of Jean-Antoine Watteau was an important aspect in the development of the Rococo style. He depicts the extravagant lifestyle of the aristocracy within organic landscapes. Watteau gained popularity through the aristocrats and his artwork really typifies their lavish behavior and style. Although he was not fully appreciated in the 18th century, more recent viewers adore Watteau’s depictions of the extravagant aristocratic lifestyle.
See, Henri. "Economic and Social Conditions in France During the Eighteenth Century." McMaster University. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Feb. 2112. <http://socserv.mcmaster.ca/econ/ugcm/3ll3/see/18thCentury.pdf>
Stokstad, Marilyn, and Michael Watt Cothren. Art History: Portable Edition. 4th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/Prentice Hall, 2011. Print.
I am curious about your passing comment regarding how Diana may be an aristocrat (because of the clothing next to her). Did you come across this argument in your research? If someone interprets the clothing as 18th century fashion, that puts an interesting and unusual twist on the representation of a goddess from classical mythology.
ReplyDeleteOff the top of my head, I can only think of Watteau paintings that depict classical goddesses in more classical-like attire (I'm specifically thinking of the painting "Ceres", the goddess of agriculture and the harvest. I'd be curious to read any commentary you found about Diana's discarded clothing.
-Prof. Bowen
You'll have to interpret Watteau's work as conscious renaissance. The artist merges Roman-style parks with a natural vegetation, to conjure up the impression that antiquity wasn't yet over. In the same sense, you'll have to understand why he dresses his figures partially in an ancient and partially in a modern style.
DeleteThe Champs-Elysees is a very beautiful painting. I really enjoy paintings that have bright colors in them, which I also think is a very important aspect of any painting. By adding different colors to a painting, an artist is trying to bring out different emotions from the viewer. This particular painting brings out a very warm feeling and the scene looks welcoming.
ReplyDeleteOne question I have is why you think that in order to show the lavish and extravagant nature of the aristocrat was best shown with this artist in the form of landscapes? What about landscapes embodies extravagance?
ReplyDeleteCbr372, I can see both sides of this. I can see how a land scape can be seen as beautiful, especially when hung in a home to show off your wealth. But I can also see that land scopes in and of themselves do not directly speak to extravagance.
ReplyDelete