The Impact of Rococo

Written By: Amayah Meas

The ideas imposed by the art movements including the Renaissance and Baroque created a strict division of social classes for centuries in Europe. There was a clear hierarchy that kept order and distinction between different social rankings, with the upper class leading society and driving the direction of fashion. A new style of art and dress began to blur the lines between classes known as Rococo. Emphasizing delicate details, colors, and fabrics, this elegant lifestyle focused on happiness and the tranquility of life with simple pleasures. Fashion plates and portraits painted during this time, including many of Madame Pompadour, an influential and notable figure of fashion and art, give present day spectators a glimpse of this style. The Rococo style of the 18th century was an attempt at blurring the line between the roles of women in a strict hierarchal society by emphasizing the simple beauty of life through art and domestic hobbies available to the masses, but the nature of which it was spread ultimately reinforced the aristocracy.

As fashion was traditionally driven by the upper class, naturally, the Rococo style followed suit. During the mid-18th century, the mistress of King Louis XV, Madame Pompadour, was an influential patron of art and fashion. She curated the tastes of French culture and was the focal point of numerous portraits. Portrait of Madame de Pompadour painted by François Boucher in 1759 shows her prominence as the epitome of the Rococo style. Commissioned by King Louis XV, she is featured lounging in an elegant room in Versailles. The portrait communicates elegance, tranquility, and leisure as she sits holding a book while gazing into the distance. Literature and scholarship are hobbies that were further adopted by the middle class at the time. When women of high status were depicted practicing these hobbies, it broke down the barrier between classes and reduced living to simply be an act of happiness rather than a social competition. The book in her hand, bookcase in the background, and other loose written papers throughout the painting are common interests connecting the upper and middle class, emphasizing a blurred line between the aristocracy and roles of women. Similarly, her gaze residing elsewhere reduces the intimacy of the portrait, hinting its application to include many others. This portrait is an inviting portrayal of leisure and tranquility – what the Rococo style attempted to embody. The details of the dress including the lustrous silk fabric, coordinated ornamentation, and its unrestrained size communicate the Rococo aesthetic as well. The repetition of this sartorial aesthetic alongside simple domestic hobbies are reinforced in many other paintings of the time, uniting the two concepts, and solidifying them in the dream of Rococo.

(Fig. 1) Portrait of Madame de Pompadour

François Boucher

1759

French Rococo

Oil on Canvas

Madame Pompadour is the subject of many paintings during her time. François Boucher, Jean-Marc Nattier, and François-Hubert Drouais are notable painters who created these portraits which record the evolution of French fashion and taste in the 18th century. In many of her portraits including Figure 1, she can be found lounging in an elegant Rococo style dress while holding books, representing her appreciation for literature and intellect. The ornamented architecture around her alludes to her residence in Versailles and ownership of other lavish property. When put together, the sumptuousness of the backgrounds with the drama of her dresses completes the essence of Rococo. The portraits give spectators a glimpse of her lifestyle and how she chose to portray herself according to the different roles she held in influencing French culture.

Portrait of a Young Woman (Fig. 2), Portrait of the Marquise d’Antin (Fig. 3), and Madame de La Porte (Fig. 4), all painted by Jean-Marc Nattier during the mid-18th century, are other examples that embody the Rococo style of dress. Slightly contrasting the fashion during its time, the portraits feature women wearing chemises loosely draped off the shoulder, which emphasize femininity and increasing liberation from the corset and other tightly structured garments. Flowers are placed in the hair, diagonally along a sash, and sparingly on the gowns to highlight the environmental nature of Rococo. Draped silk fabrics and satin ribbons are common materials used in dress, with large bow ties and trims segregating the large spread of the garment. Using blush to create rosy tinted cheeks was a popular cosmetic style as well, which Nattier prominently depicted in his portraits. Observing the paintings themselves, the brush strokes are very light, natural, and somewhat fluffed, distinguishing Rococo art from that of the Baroque which utilized very sharp and dramatic painting techniques such as chiaroscuro. These distinct yet coordinated details of sartorial and artistic expression communicate the elegance that is essential to the Rococo style.

(Fig. 2) Portrait of a Young Woman

Jean-Marc Nattier

c. 1750

French Rococo

Oil on Canvas

(Fig. 3) Portrait of the Marquise d’Antin

Jean-Marc Nattier

1738

French Rococo

Oil on Canvas

Fig. 4) Madame de la Porte

Jean-Marc Nattier

1754

French Rococo

Oil on Canvas

When discussing the attitudes of everyday people in Europe during the 18th century, Rococo can be described as a form of escapism. Society succumbed to ennui, often unsatisfied and bored with the clear aristocracy. Often when people (below the upper class) felt temporary rushes of joy, they were followed by inevitable sadness due to the hierarchies imposed, explained in a journal titled Rococo as a Dream of Happiness. The dream of Rococo was an expression of art, it was a style of living which appreciated the tranquility of life in domestic simplicity, making it an act of escapism from internal unsatisfaction with reality. Subjective art such as poetry and painting could objectively be appreciated by anyone regardless of class, providing that escape without the repercussions or negative feelings of the restriction nonverbally imposed by the aristocracy. Aligning with Enlightenment ideas and reforming against previous art movements, Rococo would eventually form into the style known as Neoclassicism.

Although the Rococo style was a nice and somewhat effective attempt at blurring the lines between social classes, it still ultimately reinforced or rather contributed to the social hierarchy. Looking back at Figure 1, one can easily observe the extravagance of Madame Pompadour’s dress. Her pompous gown is made of silk, an expensive and delicate fabric whose production was popularized in London at the time. The tiered sleeves of her chemise poke through the gown. The layers of her garments reflect a style of which the upper class has historically been known to wear throughout past art and fashion movements, demonstrating their ability to afford layers of expensive fabrics for everyday wear. Her gown is neatly ornamented with flowers that match the ribbon detail across her front, neckpiece, and hairpiece. Similarly, the lavish bow detail on her sleeves completes the gown by adding a final layer of decoration. The natural green color of the garment hints at the Rococo’s emphasis on the natural world and Enlightenment ideas compared to the insignificance of humans. The overall look of this portrait communicates a sense of elegance, wealth, and luxury – the decadence of Rococo fashion. Observations of garments from this style’s period show how only exposed parts of garments were decorated. For example, (Figure 5) a waistcoat’s front is ornamented while the sleeves (which would be covered by an overcoat and therefore never seen) are left blank. This consideration connects to the Rococo’s emphasis on sartorial adornment as the main priority. The fact that Madame Pompadour was the prototype of this lifestyle shows how fashion was a force still driven by the upper class. Although the aesthetic intentions consequently blend the separate social classes together based on shared domestic interests, the style was still predominantly spread by the aristocracy – those who had access to the decadent sartorial details of Rococo dress presented in the portraits during that time.

(Fig. 5) Waistcoat

Anna Maria Garthwaite

1747

British Ornamented Textile

The presence of literature as a domestic task enjoyed by the middle class in portraits of Madame Pompadour (including Figure 1) can be interpreted further differently, with a purpose opposing that of uniting the social classes. Perhaps it was an upper class attempt at reclaiming scholarship as an aristocratic exclusive. Just how such luxurious settings and ornamented details of dress only available to the noble were depicted on subjects of Rococo portraits, perhaps including literature was included for the same intention. A study on Madame Pompadour as the most elegant woman of Rococo explains how “Rococo men and women lived in lavish places, ... walked in splendid parks, ... slept in soft, silk beds, ... they had one aim – to enjoy life,” (World4, 2020). While this description includes the final goal of enjoying life as a simple act in itself, each detail listed beforehand alludes to exclusive luxuries of the aristocracy. This can be viewed as undermining the communicated or rather intended purpose of this art movement. While these leisurely activities are assumed desires of all people in society, the working class did not have the accessibility or time to sit around in their lavishness and “enjoy life.”

One may also question whether seeing Madame Pompadour with literature in a sumptuous portrait was discouraging rather than inclusive or motivating. Perhaps it suggested that middle and lower class spectators feel unworthy of practicing scholarship, which illustrates how art is conclusively subjective. While the simple aim of the Rococo lifestyle is fluffily communicated and superficially feels inclusive and joyful, the mere subjectivity of art (as Rococo implied life was art itself) can transform the meaning to be the complete opposite according to one’s interpretation of the movement, especially coming from a traditionally disadvantaged perspective, making it a contradiction of itself.

The Rococo style of art and fashion aimed to emphasize the appreciation of life in a simple nature. The tranquility of life, happiness, and joy found through domestic hobbies such as reading and painting are the basis behind the style’s motivation. Rococo is easily distinguishable from the Baroque and other art movements that came before because of the fluffy details of dress, elegant ornamentation, and light brush strokes and colors. Observing art from this period evokes simple pleasure, alluding to the goal of Rococo which portrayed life as art that is objectively joyful. However, the subjectivity of art itself allows one to perceive the Rococo lifestyle as reinforcing the concept it was presented to be opposed to. While it communicates appreciation of life by emphasizing simple leisurely activities enjoyed by multiple social classes, being primarily spread by, and demonstrated on the upper class may undermine the ultimate goal of Rococo.

Primary Reference(s)

Boucher, F. (1759). Portrait of Madame de Pompadour [Oil on canvas] Wallace Collection, London. (Figure 1)

Nattier, J.-M. (1750). Portrait of a Young Woman [Oil on canvas] Timken Collection, National Gallery of Art, Washington. (Figure 2)

Nattier, J.-M. (1738) Portrait of the Marquise D’Anton [Oil on canvas] Musée Jacquemart- André, Paris. (Figure 3)

Nattier, J.-M. (1754) Madame de la Porte [Oil on canvas] Grand Courts, Sydney. (Figure 4) Garthwaite, A. (1747) Waistcoat [British ornamented textile] Victoria and Albert Museum,

London. (Figure 5)

Secondary References

Bellhouse, M. L. (1991, April). Visual Myths of Female Identity in Eighteenth-Century France. Vol 2 Issue 2. p 117-135. JSTOR. Retrieved March 20, 2022, from https://www.jstor.org/stable/1601392?seq=11

Esslemont, C. (2019, June 17). More stories. Madame de Pompadour: Rococo style icon | Art UK. Retrieved April 28, 2022, from https://artuk.org/discover/stories/madame-de- pompadour-rococo-style-icon

Majer, M. (2021, July 28). 1750-1759. Fashion History Timeline. Retrieved April 28, 2022, from https://fashionhistory.fitnyc.edu/1750-1759/

Mme de Pompadour. the most elegant women of the Rococo period. World4. (2020, April 25). Retrieved April 28, 2022, from https://world4.eu/pompadour/

Omesi, E. (2019, June 4). 1750 – Jean-Marc Nattier, portrait of a young woman. Fashion History Timeline. Retrieved April 28, 2022, from https://fashionhistory.fitnyc.edu/1750- nattier-portrait/

Saisselin, R. G. (1960, Winter). The Rococo as a Dream of Happiness. Vol 19 Issue 2. p 145- 152. JSTOR. Retrieved March 20, 2022, from https://www.jstor.org/stable/428280?seq=3

Scalbert, I. (1999, Autumn). The Rococo Revolution, No. 39. p 10–20. JSTOR Retrieved March 20, 2022, from https://www.jstor.org/stable/29544153 .